This week at the United States Supreme Court saw eight opinions in the argued cases (leaving 28 cases still to be decided).  The actual opinions raise questions about the ability of the Supreme Court to function with only eight justices.   Since the actual discussions between justices occur in private, it is hard to tell whether the decisions reflect divisions on the merits or just a tendency to only decide what absolutely needs to be decided.  However, in several cases this week, the Supreme Court — having taken review on a broad issue — issued a very narrow decision sending the case back to the lower court to re-examine the broad issue.