We are into June, which means the watch is now on as the Supreme Court will make its way through the final rulings for the term, before going on a summer break.

One case included in that group is the New Haven, Connecticut firefighter case, known as Ricci v DeStefano, which will certainly come up in the context of the nomination fight of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, making these final few decision days even more intriguing.

I saw an interesting idea the other day from one columnist, who said the GOP should call Ricci and other white firefighters as witnesses in the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, to give their side of the case, and their views on affirmative action and reverse discrimination.

I still think that case - dovetailing perfectly with the "Latina Woman-White Man' speech - will be a big matter during Senate confirmation hearings in coming months.

But as of now, the High Court is still working on its ruling in that matter, which many experts believe will be to send the case back down to the District Court level, and allow a trial where the firefighters could try to prove they were discriminated against.

One interesting note over the weekend was a "White House Official" quoted in the Washington Post, saying that the Ricci ruling should be a "one news cycle" story - something that I would find hard to believe.  http://bit.ly/mv1MB

In the meantime, we will countdown the major cases that are remaining in the weeks ahead, all while Sotomayor takes the initial steps in her confirmation efforts.

But there are other major cases before the Justices right now that will be worked out in the final weeks before the departure of Justice David Souter.

They include:

+ The constitutionality of a strip search of a 13 year old 8th grader by school officials looking for ibuprofen.

+ Whether the feds can still force many states in the South to submit proposed election law changes under the Voting Rights Act.

+ Whether inmates have a constitutional right that allows for DNA reviews of evidence that could prove their innocence.

It will be a busy news month on a variety of fronts, that's for sure.