American Airlines and US Airways are pushing back hard against the U.S. Department of Justice, filing court papers blasting the government’s bid to block their pending $11 billion merger.

Opening its new term with old business, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared likely to restrict lawsuits in federal courts by foreign victims of human rights violations committed abroad.

Ruling that the government must cough up export license applications, a judge in San Francisco handed the Electronic Frontier Foundation a win and threw the Ninth Circuit a hot potato amid a national debate over surveillance technology and civil rights.

No word yet on affirmative action, voting rights, or same-sex marriage, but the justices did resolve three of the outstanding 26 cases to be decided, ruling on issues as diverse as arbitration, sentencing, and even raisins.

Argued February 7, 2008JUSTICE HECHT delivered the opinion of the Court, in which CHIEF JUSTICE JEFFERSON, JUSTICE MEDINA, JUSTICE GREEN, JUSTICE WILLETT, and JUSTICE LEHRMANN joined.JUSTICE