Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case in which the supreme court could overturn abortion rights, is not the only one in which the justices could make a ruling that touches on a contentious issue in American society.
There’s also Kennedy v Bremerton School District, which deals with a football coach’s practice of praying after games and could end up expanding the types of religious activities allowed at public schools. A ruling in that direction would come just days after the court opened the door to religious schools receiving public funds in a decision that liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor warned weakened the separation between church and state.
Then there’s West Virginia v EPA. The justices are considering a plan announced by former president Barack Obama to lower power plants’ emissions — but which never took effect. The fear is that the conservative majority will use the case as an opportunity to take away major regulatory powers from the government.
Finally, there’s a case that doesn’t affect Americans but rather people on its borders. Biden v. Texas represents the sitting president’s attempt to end the “remain in Mexico” policy implemented by his predecessor Donald Trump, which forced many asylum seekers to stay south of the border while their cases were heard.
The supreme court could today release their opinions on all of these, or none, or some combination in between.
America braces for more conservative rulings from supreme court
Good morning, US politics blog reader. Today could be one for the history books. The supreme court will announce more rulings at 10am eastern time, and among the cases outstanding is one in which the conservative majority is widely expected to strike down the nationwide right to abortion established by the Roe v Wade decision. A draft opinion that leaked last month showed the court prepared to overturn it and yesterday, the conservative bloc ruled against a New York law regulating concealed weapons in a decision expected to make it more difficult to control guns nationwide – a sign of the court’s pronounced rightward drift.
Here’s what else is going on today:
- The House of Representatives is expected to take up a bipartisan gun control compromise that passed the Senate last night, and will probably approve it. President Joe Biden has said he is ready to sign it.
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters at 2pm eastern time, though Biden has nothing public on his scheduled today.
- A campaign has kicked off to deprive Fox News of ad revenue over claims that the network is “working overtime to fuel the next insurrection”.
