Justice warily accepts, mainly because she has to go to Oakland for a hair show, and her car dies at the last minute.

Among the 21 new cases the Justices accepted today for argument and decision were two involving religion and the schools.

Twice in recent years the Justices have accepted cases that appeared to present a punitive damage issue.

Ordinarily, new cases the Justices accept in October are not ready to be argued until January.

The Court's rules provide that four Justices, a minority, can accept a case for decision.

The six new cases the Justices accepted today brought to 51 the number now available for decision during the new term.

The Justices accepted an appeal from a California county on an issue that has divided the lower Federal courts.

The Justices accepted 15 new cases in the last three weeks, bringing the total to 44 and filling their argument calendar through January.

The invitation to rewrite the constitutional law of church and state is not one that the Justices will necessarily accept.

The Justices accepted the case provisionally, indicating some doubt about their jurisdiction to decide it.