The U.S. Supreme Court is a "down home place" where relations have become strained, veteran reporter Lyle Denniston said during a visit to the law school on Sept. 20.

"It's not a happy court right now, and its not just ideological division," said Denniston, who has covered the Supreme Court for more than 50 years for the New York Times, the Boston Globe and currently SCOTUSblog. "The new chief justice (John Roberts) is known to be somewhat brusque. He is known to throw his weight around. Among some members of the court, there is resentment."

Denniston visited the law school at the invitation of Associate Professor Lisa McElroy, who teaches a Supreme Court Seminar, has authored biographies of several justices for children and writes the Plain English column at SCOTUSblog.

Citing Denniston's long tenure covering the nation's high court, McElroy noted that he has reported on one quarter of the justices who have served in the nation's history.

During that time, Denniston said, much has changed, including the relative scarcity of journalists at the court. While scores of reporters were once based at the court throughout the year, the corps that is currently headquartered there has shrunk to six journalists, Denniston said.

"It's become spectacle journalism," he said. "The news outlets are interested in a half dozen or 10 major cases of the term, and they cover them episodically."

Denniston said the high court docket for the coming year features numerous hot cases that include:

- Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T which will test whether a corporation can assert privacy rights to prevent disclosure of records that were obtained for law enforcement purposes. AT&T is relying on the controversial Citizens United case, in which the court last year ruled that political spending is protected under the First Amendment, and the government may not block corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.

- Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, which will determine if First Amendment allows limits on the contents of violent video games sold to minors.

- Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Whiting, which will decide the constitutionality of an Arizona law that requires employers to check the immigration status of job seekers through a federal computer database, although the use of that resource is voluntary under federal law.

- Flores-Villar v. United States, which turns on rights of children born overseas who have one U.S.-citizen parent, will become "the sleeper case of the term," Denniston predicted. The case will explore whether a distinction between the citizenship rights of children whose fathers were in the U.S. for five years, while mothers only need to have been in the U.S. for one year prior to their birth, violates the Equal Protection Clause.

Denniston told the standing-room-only crowd that while some observers contend Supreme Court clerks have great influence with the justices, lawyers actually have more ability to shape opinions.

"Rulings can very often be traced back to the pleadings," Denniston said.