In a wave of U.S. Supreme Court rulings in June, the Justices weighed in on a Medicare prescription drug program, the right to search parolees and the admissibility of 911 calls in cases where victims refuse to testify.

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. became the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, confirmed with the most partisan victory in modern history after a fierce battle over the future direction of the high court.

The U.S. Senate confirmed John Roberts as the Supreme Court's 17th chief justice by a vote of 78 to 22. Roberts was sworn in at the White House in time for the new court session.

Under withering attack from conservatives, President Bush ended his push to put loyalist Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court Thursday and promised a quick replacement. Democrats accused him of bowing to the "radical right wing of the Republican Party."

William H. Rehnquist, the long-serving chief justice who steered the court toward conservatism, died Sept. 4, 2005, from cancer at age 80. His death, on the eve of the Senate confirmation hearings, meant that President Bush would be naming not one, but two nominees for the bench.

The first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor, announced in July she is retiring from the bench after 24 years. The 75-year-old jurist, whose resignation will take effect once a replacement is confirmed by the Senate, says she plans to spend more time with her family.