[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] granted certiorari in nine cases Tuesday less than a week ahead of the official opening of its 2006 Term on October 2. The grants were decided in the Court's long conference Monday following a summer break and were picked from a pool of some 1900 petitions. Several of the cases are expected to be argued later this year, as a number of slots in the Court's December calendar are still open.

Among the highlights:

• Davenport v. Washington Education Association [cert. petition, PDF] and Washington v. Washington Education Association [cert. petition, PDF] will raise the question of whether states can prohibit labor unions from using dues collected from non-union members for political activities without the consent of those members. AP has more.
• in Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez [cert. petition, PDF] the Court will rule on whether an alien convicted for aiding and abetting a theft offense can be deported under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• in Schriro v. Landrigan [cert. petition, PDF] the justices will rule on whether a defense attorney has a duty to gather and develop evidence favorable to his client in a death penalty case when the client does not want that to be done. AP has more.
• the consolidated cases of Safeco Insurance v. Burr and Geico General Insurance v. Edo [cert. petitions, PDF] will determine what constitutes a wilful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act exposing a lender to higher damages. AP has more.

Read Tuesday's full Order List [PDF]. SCOTUSblog has more.