What's unclear is whether the justices can maintain their sense of comity through a term with tougher cases and a bruising confirmation battle.

"They got in the habit of deciding cases on narrow grounds so that there would be more agreement among themselves, and they seem to have toned down their rhetoric a bit, too," said David Strauss, a University of Chicago law professor. "You have to hope that will last, now that there are nine justices. But we can't be sure it will."

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