* First term for Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee
* Nine-member court remains closely divided
* Conservative majority with four liberals
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court will consider important cases on anti-gay protests at military funerals, violent video games and immigration law during its new term that begins on Monday.
The nine-member high court will open its 2010-11 term with a new member on the bench, Justice Elena Kagan, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.
Kagan succeeded Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired in June. She probably will not change the court's balance of power, which is widely seen as remaining closely divided with a five-member conservative majority and four liberals.
The conservative Republican appointees are Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Besides Kagan, the Democratic appointees on the left are Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, the court's first Hispanic who was appointed by Obama last year.
"While the conservative credentials of the Roberts court have been well-established by now, this term may tell us something more about its particular brand of conservatism," said Steven Shapiro of the American Civil Liberties Union.
He said the term could show whether the current court is more concerned about corporate rights and less concerned about states' rights than the court under the previous chief justice, the late William Rehnquist.
One of the term's most closely watched cases will be argued on Wednesday when the justices consider whether free-speech rights protect anti-gay protests by members of a small Kansas church at funerals for U.S. military members killed in Iraq.
Fordham University law professor Benjamin Zipursky said a U.S. appeals court overextended free-speech rights and interfered with a father's right to hold a peaceful, dignified funeral for his son who died in Iraq.
MISTAKE OF JUDGMENT
"Let's hope the Supreme Court corrects this serious mistake of judgment and misapplication of law," he said.
Another major free-speech case will be argued in November, when the justices consider a California law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to minors.
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