The U.S. Supreme Court could be dubbed the “Kennedy court” in 2006 as Justice Anthony Kennedy is likely to provide the deciding vote on most major cases, a University of Alabama constitutional law expert says.

Although Chief Justice John Roberts will be in the spotlight as the court’s new leader, Kennedy will play the key role in the direction the court takes, according to UA Law Professor Bryan Fair.

Fair predicts that nominee Samuel Alito will be confirmed early in the year, adding his conservative vote to the court.

“Justice Kennedy will be the swing vote in many of the most controversial cases, including parental notification on abortion and other abortion issues that may come up and a wide variety of criminal, federal law and civil rights cases, not only in 2006 but in the next two or three years,” Fair predicted.

“The court will have a 4-1-4 alignment with Justices Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg and Souter on one side and Justices Roberts, Thomas, Scalia and Alito on the other. Kennedy will be the questionable vote in the center,” he said.

Fair said President Bush is unlikely to have an opportunity to appoint another Supreme Court justice in the coming year. The oldest member of the court, Justice John Paul Stevens, seems to be in good health and committed to staying on the court, Fair noted. However, the Supreme Court remains “an old court” in terms of age, despite its newest appointees, with most justices in their late 60s or 70s.