By the end of the 2008-2009 term, Justice David Souter's decision to return to New Hampshire and President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to replace him on the bench had taken over the Supreme Court news cycle. In the end, the consensus has been that, with the possible exception of criminal justice issues, swapping out Souter for Sotomayor is unlikely to have much effect on the Court's current 4-1-4 balance. The "1" in the middle of the Court's line up represents Justice Anthony Kennedy who, in perennial swing vote fashion, was with the majority in 73 of last term's 79 cases, once again more than anyone else. However, this is not to say that Justice Sotomayor's confirmation on August 8 was insignificant. The Court's first Hispanic justice will be a fresh voice with time to develop her own judicial philosophy (she is 55, relatively young by Supreme Court standards). Meanwhile, one early, tangible effect of Sotomayor's nomination was to help push a previously little remarked Second Circuit decision into the spotlight of the Court's docket. This article highlights cases awaiting Justice Sotomayor and the rest of the Court in the new term, among them are two high-profile First Amendment cases. (Contains 20 notes.)