Supreme Court conservatives claim control at the end of a significant term

Washington —Neil to 5 A year later, Gorsuch joined the Supreme Court about four years after Brett Kavanaugh replaced retired Judge Anthony Kennedy, and after Amy Connie Barrett was confirmed a few days before the 2020 election. Twenty months later, an expanded conservative majority of the Supreme Court exercised power over the blockbuster period marked by major decisions about abortion, secondary amendments and religious rights.

The term, which began in October, officially ended on Thursday, and the judge made the final two decisions. One limits the Environmental Protection Agency'sregulatory agency's. Greenhouse gas emissions and the Biden administration paving the way forto roll back, the so-called "stay in Mexico" immigration policy-before resting in the summer ..

However, the rulings issued on consecutive days last weekwipe out the constitutional right to abortionandguns. Expanding Rights For the first time in more than a decade, he emphasized how the conservative majority of the Supreme Court has marked the law.

"At least in gun, abortion, and religious cases, it was a bold court, a bold tone, and they saw the term. It has overturned precedent and has undergone major changes, including existing methods of finding rights and valuing gun control. It has changed the behavior of lower courts, "said Allison or Larsen, a professor of law. William&Mary told CBS News. 

"When the court takes such a big bite, a big change in doctrine, it's hard to characterize it as 5-4 or 6-3. That's what we've seen in the past. It feels different. The tone of opinion seems to be different. It's dramatic and consequential, "she continued. "It doesn't look exactly like what we think of as Judge Roberts' court. He prefers conservative steps, but it's not a big step at a time, it's a big shock. These decisions are shocking decisions. "

In their decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade case, especially the groundbreaking decision in 1973, which legalized abortion nationwide, was of law. He abandoned Roberts' approach to a gradual change in law rather than a major change. 

In favor, Roberts said he would support Mississippi law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks at the heart of the court battle, but decided to dismiss Law "serious to the legal system." I called it "a shock". "A narrower decision," he said, "remarkably less anxious."

"When Judge Roberts was the fifth conservative vote, he was a gradualist, and that was the court, especially his name." Caroline Mara Corbyn, a professor of constitution at the University of Miami, said. "He's no longer a decisive vote. His vote is no longer necessary."

In addition to reversing Roe and overriding New York's restrictions on taking pistols out of the house, The Supreme Court ruled in support of religious rights in four disputes. The prisonerwanted to pray audibly to the minister and put his hand on him during his execution. Finding the City of Bostonviolated First Amendmentwhen rejecting a request from an organization to raise the Christian flag outside the City Hall. .. Overthrow the Maine tuition aid program, which excludes schools that provide religious instruction. Andis helping a former high school football coachwho lost his job after praying at the 50-yard line after the match.

In a case involving Texas prisoners and Boston City Hall, the court ruled 8-1 and 9-0, respectively, but broke the ideological line in the other two disputes. rice field.

Corbyn said the Supreme Court's decision on freedom of religion "excludes" the rights that the conservative majority of the Supreme Court dislikes. Said that it shows. However, Mark Lienji, chairman of the Beckett Foundation for Freedom of Religion, said the latest ruling in favor of religious rights did not indicate that the conservative majority of the courts were pro-religious, and re-disciplined. I believe that.

"The court has been engaged in decades of long purifications of religious freedom law, which was much more confusing," he told reporters this week. "They really work on pluralism, respect the ability of people to live different lives, and I don't think the majority will always go where they want to go."

Lienji lamented that the country was in an era "unfortunately tended to be intolerant of differences."

"If I'm a government or an opponent of religion or religion, I see it and it's pretty clear that the court actually believes in the First Amendment. You might say that you should stop choosing those fights, "he said.

According to aanalysis of the court terminologyby Adam Feldman, the founder of the website Empirical SCOTUS, 17 decisions were unanimous, but three liberal members of the court — the trial. Officials Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan -13 opposed together in a decision. Roberts and Kavanaugh, on the other hand, had a 94.9% chance of being the most frequent majority.

Future Conflicts

The term was full of important, earth-shaking decisions, but judges have already heard the blockbuster controversy, including religious freedom. Ready,Affirmative Action,Voting RightsandState Legislature Power ofSet federal election rules when they convene for their next term in October.

One of the cases involves a Colorado web designer who does not want to provide same-sex marriage services because of her religious beliefs, in violation of state anti-discrimination laws. Web designer Rory Smith argues that the law violates freedom of speech and religious rights, and judges apply the Public Facilities Act to force artists to speak or remain silent. And violate the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court is expected to continue its tendency to strengthen religious rights, but Larsen said the case could be a case in which judges take a more gradual approach. He said he had sex.

"Instead of overturning the Oberfell v. Hodge trial, you can attend a wedding between gay couples, referring to the groundbreaking decision of 2015 that legalized gay marriage. , May increase accommodation for people who express religious opposition to using services, "she said. "This is an example where we could certainly get back to that step, but we couldn't leap to the right."

Court membership was also on Thursday by. It has changed with the retirement of Breyer in effectand the appointment of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was{188. } I swore injust hours after the final opinion was given. Jackson was the first black woman to serve in the High Court.

When she broke the secrets surrounding the Supreme Court and broke the trust ofamong its members. , Joining the Supreme CourtIn the abortion case, there was amajority vote leak. Roberts ordered an investigation into the source of the disclosure, but the identity of the person who shared the document with the Politico reporter is not yet publicly known.

"She is joining a new family when the dynamics of her family are very tense," Larsen said of Jackson.

Jackson, who fills Breyer's seat, will not change the ideological composition of the court, and the conservative majority of the Supreme Court is expected to continue for years. 

"We must recognize that dissent is not always a minority in the long run, and at some point dissent is a blueprint for the majority. "It will be," Corbyn said. "They continue to point out the weaknesses of the majority reasoning and how to deviate from acceptable practices, and write a blueprint for decisions in the distant future, but they can still be the majority opinion."

Mr. Byden put his own historic stamp in court at Jackson's appointment, the reversal of Law and the expansion of the right to the second amendment made possible by Senate Republicans and former President Donald Trump. Showed the transformation of the court.

"If President Obama could appoint a Supreme Court judge he was eligible to appoint, Judge Roberts would eventually eliminate Dobbs and perhaps the court's right to abortion. But I wouldn't have done that on Friday, "Corbyn said. "Who's heritage really? Is it Mitch McConnell's or Donald Trump's?"