The 5 biggest cases the US Supreme Court could soon decide
We’ve heard the oral arguments. Now the waiting game begins at the U.S. Supreme Court as justices start issuing decisions on some consequential cases that impact everything from abortion to guns to how your town addresses homelessness.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest cases that could soon be decided.
The future of mifepristone
Referred to by some as the “abortion pill,” the drug last year was used in more than 6 in 10 of abortions performed in the United States. But a group of anti-abortion doctors claims the drug is unsafe and that the FDA incorrectly approved the drug for certain uses in recent years, like allowing it to be mailed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration claims it is safe. But if the drug is restricted by the high court, providers may soon have to use other drugs for medication abortions
People march through downtown Amarillo to protest a lawsuit to ban the abortion drug mifepristone.
Supreme Court
Supreme Court appears skeptical of abortion pill challenge
Stephanie Liebergen
7:56 AM, Mar 26, 2024
Will a bump stock ban stay in place?
Former President Trump banned bump stocks after the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. They’re used to modify semiautomatic guns to speed up the firing mechanism, turning them into machine gun-like devices.
Will the high court keep the ban in place? Or will justices find it violates the Second Amendment?
A bump stock
Guns
Supreme Court reviewing arguments regarding legality of bump stocks
John Mone
9:08 PM, Feb 28, 2024
Social media crackdown
Justices heard multiple cases this term about whether social media companies can block or censure content posted on their platforms.
One case looks at whether the Biden administration has the right to ask social media sites to take down posts they believe to be fake or problematic. How the court rules could impact what you see or don’t see online.
The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Supreme Court
Supreme Court hearing social media misinformation case
Scripps News Staff
11:08 AM, Mar 18, 2024
Homeless rights
Can cities relocate homeless encampments? What rights do those without housing have?
The forthcoming opinion from justices could drastically impact what your city can do to address places occupied by the unhoused.
Tents at a homeless encampment in Florida.
Supreme Court
The future of homeless encampments at the center of US Supreme Court case
Scripps News Tampa
4:06 PM, May 05, 2024
Presidential immunity
Does former President Trump have any immunity from the charges he is facing for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots?
The timing of the Supreme Court’s decision may impact if the former president will face a federal trial before Election Day, or if the case is thrown out.
The artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump’s attorney John Sauer, far right, speaking before the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court
Supreme Court grills attorneys on Trump’s presidential immunity claim
Daniel Lathrop
10:49 AM, Apr 25, 2024
Alison LaCroix is a law professor at the University of Chicago and she says the high court has the chance to change a lot in our country in the coming weeks. However, she ranks the presidential immunity case as the biggest one to watch.
“That could impact democracy, definitely,” she said. “If they [justices] said absolute immunity, that would potentially bar [former] President Trump from federal cases and potentially state criminal prosecutions.”