Ken Mehlman, the political director for the George W. Bush White House, compares the right to marry to other fundamental rights conservatives embrace. He rounded up a group of 131 prominent Republicans to sign a legal brief that's at odds with the House GOP leadership and the party's platform.

Edith Windsor's challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act will be heard by the Supreme Court next week. When her wife died, Windsor had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes because the federal government did not recognize their marriage. "If Thea was Theo," she says, "I would not have had to pay."

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that U.S. companies that make and sell products abroad cannot prevent those items from being resold in the U.S., even at steep discounts. The decision could have repercussions that extend from U.S. trade policy to local yard sales.

The court heard arguments Monday in a case that seeks to redefine a federal law aimed at streamlining the nation's voter registration process. At issue is an Arizona requirement that prospective voters prove their citizenship.

At issue at the Supreme Court on Monday is an Arizona law that requires prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote. A federal appeals court ruled last year that the state law must fall because it conflicts with federal law allowing registration by mail.

Chief Justice John Roberts noted that Massachusetts, which is not covered by the preclearance section of the Voting Rights Act, has a far worse record in black voter registration and turnout than Mississippi, which is covered by the act. But census statistics don't necessarily confirm that argument.

The case before the court tests the constitutionality of a California referendum, narrowly passed by voters in 2008, that reinstituted a ban on gay marriage. The U.S. is calling on the court to declare the California law unconstitutional, a violation of the principle of equal protection.

The Obama administration is set to file a friend-of-the-court brief Thursday urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. Nina Totenberg talks to Audie Cornish.

The provision at issue in Wednesday's case before the court applies to parts of the U.S. where discriminatory voting practices were once rampant. The formula that covers those areas hasn't changed since 1975. The crux of the case: whether times have changed so much that Congress violated the Constitution when it reauthorized the law in 2006.

The court blocked a suit contending the law is unconstitutional from going forward, saying the challengers had no legal standing because they had not shown with sufficient certainty that they had been monitored. That decision all but ensures there will be no further challenge to the law.

Twenty-eight states and the federal government have enacted laws that provide for automatic DNA collection from people at the time of their arrest. The question is whether it is unconstitutional to do that without a warrant, for the sole purpose of checking the DNA against a national crime scene database.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is open about how she benefited from affirmative action, how she came to terms with her diabetes and the "out-of-body experience" of being appointed to the high court. Sotomayor spoke with NPR just before the release of her new autobiography.

The court's answer to that question could significantly restrict employer liability in racial and sexual harassment cases, or, in the view of some business organizations, it could result in frivolous litigation.

The court said it would look at a key provision that requires certain jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to get approval before changing any election procedures. For decades, the law has been the government's main tool for fighting discrimination at the polls.

While the rest of the federal government shut down Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court was open for business as usual — at least long enough to hear two cases argued. It is hardly the first time that the high court was the macho guy in town, staying open when the rest of the government was closed.

The Supreme Court will consider whether to allow a challenge to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Monday. Opponents of the law call it unnecessarily intrusive, but that's not actually what's at stake. Rather, the court will examine whether a challenge can be made in the first place.

A federal appeals court ruling has catapulted a New York case to the head of the line, as the Supreme Court considers which of many cases it should use to decide whether the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional. The case involves a widow who paid taxes on her same-sex spouse's estate.

The five-term senator, a moderate Republican-turned-Democrat, was a key member of the Judiciary Committee and consistently a thorn for leaders of both political parties and their presidents. Specter died of complications from non-Hodgkins lymphoma at his home in Philadelphia on Sunday. He was 82.

At issue is whether the University of Texas, Austin discriminated against a white applicant when it did not offer her a spot. At Wednesday's argument, a court majority seemed poised to reverse or severely cut back previous decisions related to affirmative action programs in college admissions.

Decisions are expected this term on affirmative action in higher education, same-sex marriage, the Voting Rights Act and a lot of privacy issues. The court opens the term Monday by taking a look at a case brought against Shell Oil by 12 Nigerians granted political asylum in the U.S.