By the end of the month, the U.S. Supreme Court will have completed its current term (and Chief Justice Rehnquist will very likely have announced his retirement, although I hope not).

Here are the cases yet to be decided this term that I find the most interesting (taken from here – any case that has nothing listed under “Opinion” and does not say “2005-06 term” under “Oral Argument” will be decided this month; the following links provide nice summaries of the cases mentioned as well as links to case materials):

Van Orden v. Perry and McCreary County v. ACLU – These are probably the highest-profile cases remaining and will likely be decided together. They involve whether a government-sponsored display of the Ten Commandments violates the First Amendment.

MGM v. Grokster – The Court will decide whether the distributors of peer-to-peer file-sharing computer software can be held vicariously or contributorily liable for copyright infringement. This will be high-profile as well.

National Cable & Telecommunications Assn., et al. v. Brand X Internet Services / FCC v. Brand X Internet Services – The Court will decide whether it is proper for the FCC to classify cable modem service as an “information service” and not a “telecommunications service” for purposes of regulation under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. DSL is subject to stricter FCC regulation than cable modem service because it is owned by telecommunications companies and is therefore classified as a “telecommunications service.”

In all, there are 26 decisions remaining to be announced by the end of this term. Supreme Court decisions are announced on Mondays and sometimes on Thursdays as well.

There are no gay-rights cases this term, but next term there’s Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, about whether the federal government can withhold funding from law schools that bar military recruiters from campus. Several law schools bar military recruiters because they say the ban on gays serving openly in the military violates those schools’ non-discrimination policies. See also this article that discusses the case in light of Dale v. Boy Scouts of America.

The Court seems to take up a gay-related case every three or four years. The last one was Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.