21.   The justices seem concerned that Congress has boxed them in, has usurped their authority.

22.   The justices seemed equally uncomfortable with some broad claims made by David Karpe, a court-appointed lawyer for Richards.

23.   The justices seemed to be more in agreement with New Jersey today.

24.   The justices seemed to give them more time to make a case without interruption, and the questioning was less aggressive than customary.

25.   The justices seem to be trying to find a way between these two realities.

26.   The high court had already hinted in recent rulings that limits did exist, and at the oral argument last November, the justices seemed ready to draw boundaries.

27.   The justices did not seem reassured.

28.   The O.J. Simpson murder trial and the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, for instance, became such media carnivals for posturing celebrities that justice seemed like an afterthought.

29.   There is satisfaction in seeing what a no-nonsense judge and a sterling prosecution can achieve, even in a high-profile case where justice often seems jinxed.

30.   Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said justices seem to be in the public more often and more outspoken.