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As Bob Dylan so eloquently put it, The Times They Are A-Changin’.  The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear 60 cases during the 2022-2023 term.  Long-set precedence was challenged in various cases with the decisions drastically impacting our nation.  Cases relating to affirmative action, student loans, discrimination, abortion, guns, religion, and climate change - among others - made their way before the Republican-majority Court and many decisions were decided along partisan lines.  However, as the recent decisions have shown, the unpredictability of the Court should not be underestimated.  While many decisions followed partisan lines, the Justices united in their decisions regarding Groff v. DeJoy, Gonzalez v. Google LLC and Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh.

One of the most recent cases, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard (and https://ballotpedia.org/Students_for_Fair_Admissions,_Inc._v._President_%26_Fellows_of_Harvard), questioned the legality of the use of race as a factor in admission decisions by institutions of higher education institutions.  The U.S Supreme Court held that use of race as a determining factor for admission was a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and overturned the lower court's decision.

Another recent case focused on an artist’s ability to refuse services to patrons that conflict with the artist’s religious beliefs. See 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis.  This was a 6-3 decision in which the court held that the First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing an artist to create content that the artist disagrees with.
 
Wildly impactful was the decision in Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade.  Despite 50 years of precedence, the sitting justices, in a 6-3 decision, stated that the constitution makes no reference to abortion and that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, on which defenders of Roe and Casey rely, does not implicitly protect such a right. This decision was followed by a landslide of state initiatives to modify abortion rights.  Far-reaching implications beyond what one believes is “right” are being explored. These include, to name a few, fear of penalization and criminalization of healthcare providers and patients, evaluation of healthcare policies offered to employees, violation of international laws codified in human rights treaties, and privacy rights.

The cases listed above are a brief example of the sweeping changes our nation has faced during the past year.  As mentioned, discrimination, guns, religion, and climate change cases were also decided during the 2022-2023 term. For more information regarding Supreme Court decisions, start at the Supreme Court of the United States’ website at https://www.supremecourt.gov/.  As decisions come down lives and laws are changed and we, as individuals and a community, must adjust.