U.S. Supreme Court kicks off new term, with Justice Thomas absent

WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its new nine-month term with a flurry of activity on Monday, hearing arguments in three cases and rejecting numerous appeals that piled up over the summer.

With conservative Justice Clarence Thomas absent due to an unspecified illness, the court began hearing its first argument in a case focusing on whether states can discard the so-called insanity defense in criminal prosecutions. The case involved a man sentenced to death in Kansas for fatally shooting four family members while suffering from severe depression.

In remarks from the bench before the first argument, Chief Justice John Roberts said Thomas, the court's longest-serving justice, was "indisposed" due to illness but would still participate in deciding the three cases.

Details of Thomas' illness were not immediately disclosed. Thomas, one of the nine-justice court's most conservative members, is 71 and has served on the court since 1991.

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