While it may not come as big news to you that today is the first Monday in October, for those in the legal game it is a significant occassion.

Every year on the 1st Monday of the month of October the United States Supreme Court opens for the annual session. Cases which have been working up the legal ladder have an opportunity for their fall (or spring) debut.

Needless to say the most anticipated case (or cases) likely to be reviewed by the court this session are those related to the Affordable Care Act. There is a very good chance that a decision would be made on the law sometime before the traditional end of session in summer 2012.

While the court is officially non partisan it is difficult to see how the ruling, whichever way it goes, will not have a major impact on the campagin.

There are also cases pending touching on immigration, including the issue of whether an adult brought to the US as a child should be given credit for the years they lived in this country as a good citizen (in the general sense not the legal one).

Another issue is whether the police can add a GPS tracking device to a vehicle without getting a warrant.

As if that were not enough there are also decisions on affirmative action, race based admissions and integration.

On the business side we have cases covering the FCC, corporate mergers and a myriad of oither issues.

Over the coming months I will do my best to cover some of the more prominent subjects.

A very good summary of both the upcoming calendar and links to other summaries can be found at SCOTUSBLOG