Stepped into a legal fight over "fleeting expletives," or curse words, during live television broadcasts.

_Intervened in a dispute over whether prosecutors can use crime lab reports as evidence without having the forensic analyst who prepared them testify at trial.

_Agreed to decide a case over the drawing of legislative boundaries that could affect the ability of minorities to elect their candidates of choice.

_Agreed to consider reinstating the murder conviction of the driver in a gang-related drive-by shooting that horrified Seattle in 1994.

_Declined to consider a lawsuit accusing tobacco companies of turning minors into smokers by targeting them with cigarette advertising.