Least Trusted Supreme Court Ever Begins New Term

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 7, 2024 – Today marks the beginning of the 2024–25 Supreme Court term. Following the blockbuster decisions at the end of last term on presidential immunity, deference to agency expertise, criminalized homelessness, and deadly restrictions on reproductive health care, the Court is once again prepared to take on cases with huge implications for the American people.

Alliance for Justice has highlighted several high-stakes cases that the Court has already taken up this term. They include:

• U.S. v. Skrmetti, a challenge to state bans on gender-affirming care for transgender young people.

• Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, a case that threatens to separate families made of up immigrants and citizens.

• Stanley v. City of Samford, Fla., in which the disability benefits of millions of workers are on the line.

• Seven County Infrastructure v. Eagle County, Colo., an attempt to circumvent the National Environmental Protection Act.

• Garland v. VanDerStock, a case about the regulation of “ghost guns” that could make it even harder to curb gun violence.

There are many more cases awaiting consideration by the Court that could join these on the docket for the term.

Keith Thirion, interim co-president of Alliance for Justice, issued the following statement:

“We greet this first Monday of the Supreme Court term still reeling from the dangerous impacts of its last. Last term, the Court’s conservative supermajority upended decades of legal norms to execute a massive power grab while skirting ever-growing concerns about its corruption. By doing nothing to rectify the public’s historically low trust, the Court has imperiled its own legitimacy. What choice do we have but to view its docket as threats to cruelly make our country a less safe place to live? We deserve better than to live in fear of an institution supposedly sworn to enact justice. Reforming the Supreme Court with term limits, a code of ethics, and expansion is essential to restore trust and create accountability for the justices. We can already see which dominoes could fall next if we don’t.”

Click here to read the Alliance for Justice 2024–25 Supreme Court Preview.