WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ended its term with the first ruling that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution, a decision that almost certainly means Donald Trump will not be tried before the November election. The highly anticipated ruling, which drew piercing criticism from the minority justices, was one of several momentous rulings made in the court’s busy final weeks.
Here’s a look at the most critical cases the court decided this year.
Immunity of the President
For the first time, it was decided that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution. This extended the delay in the trial of Donald Trump in Washington on election fraud charges and virtually ruled out a trial before the November election. The judges returned the case to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who would preside over the trial. She must now clarify what remains of the indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith against the former president.
Majority: Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Dissenting opinions: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Rebellion clause
The court ruled unanimously that states cannot invoke the post-Civil War “insurrection clause” to exclude presidential and congressional candidates from the ballot. The justices overturned a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that found that former President Donald Trump, as part of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, intentionally organized and incited the mob of his supporters that violently attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Majority (unsigned opinion): Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett (partial)
Unanimous in the verdict: Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson, Barrett
6th January
A federal charge of obstruction of justice brought against hundreds of people who participated in the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and against Trump was confined. The court ruled in the case of a former Pennsylvania police officer and sent him to a lower court to decide whether the obstruction of justice charge, issued in 2002 to prevent the tampering with documents sought in investigations, can be brought against him. The decision could also have implications for Trump’s prosecution for election interference.
Majority: Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Jackson
Dissenting votes: Barrett, Sotomayor, Kagan
Abortion pill
A lawsuit brought by anti-abortion activists challenging the FDA’s original 2000 approval of mifepristone and more recent decisions to ease access to the drug, one of two pills used in medication abortions, was unanimously dismissed. The justices ruled that the doctors had no right or standing to sue and overturned an appeals ruling that would have reversed some FDA decisions to ease access to mifepristone, including delivering the drug by mail, and allowing it to be taken longer during pregnancy.
Majority: Kavanaugh, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, Jackson
Chevron
Overturns a 40-year-old decision that has been cited thousands of times in federal court cases and used to uphold environmental, public health, worker safety and consumer protection regulations. The court decision, known colloquially as Chevron and long attacked by conservative and business interest groups, required judges to defer to federal regulators when the language of a law is not crystal clear. The Supreme Court ruled that judges, not regulators, should decide the meaning of federal laws.
Majority: Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Dissenting votes: Kagan, Sotomayor, Jackson
weapons
Upheld a 1994 law designed to protect victims of domestic violence. The law prohibits people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns. The 8-1 decision overturned an appeals ruling that struck down the law based on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision expanding gun rights.
Majority: Roberts, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Jackson
Opposing opinion: Thomas
Wealth tax
Upheld a tax on foreign income passed by a Republican-dominated Congress and signed by Trump. By a vote of 7 to 2, the justices rejected an attempt by conservative and business interests to overturn the tax as unconstitutional. This would have potentially spelled the end of a much-discussed but never-passed wealth tax on billionaires.
Majority: Kavanaugh, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson
Concurring verdict: Barrett, Alito
Opposing opinion: Thomas, Gorsuch
Reorganization of electoral districts
In a 6-3 decision, a Republican-held congressional district in South Carolina was preserved, overturning a lower court ruling that found the state legislature discriminated against black voters. Dissenting liberal justices warned that the court was trying to protect states from accusations of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. State lawmakers relocated 30,000 black residents from the district to bolster the position of Representative Nancy Mace.
Majority: Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Dissenting votes: Kagan, Sotomayor, Jackson
Accumulate shares
The ban on “bump stocks,” rapid-fire gun accessories used in the deadliest mass shooting in contemporary U.S. history, has been struck down. The 6-3 decision concluded that the Trump administration overstepped its bounds when it reversed course from its predecessors and banned “bump stocks,” which allow a rate of fire comparable to machine guns. In a dissenting opinion, liberal justices warned that the decision could have “deadly consequences.”
Majority: Thomas, Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Dissenting votes: Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson
Consumer protection
Upheld the funding method of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is not dependent on annual appropriations from Congress. By a vote of 7-2, the court overturned a ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the funding structure unconstitutional.
Majority: Thomas, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Jackson
Opposing opinion: Alito, Gorsuch
NRA and free speech
The court unanimously cleared the way for the National Rifle Association to sue a former New York state official. The gun rights group, which is backed in part by the Biden administration and represented by the ACLU, said Maria Vullo pressured companies to blacklist her after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. The opinion said the First Amendment prohibits government officials from abusing their power to punish or suppress speech.
Majority: Sotomayor, Thomas, Roberts, Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Jackson
Purdue Pharma
By a 5-4 vote, he rejected a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would have provided billions of dollars to fight the opioid epidemic but also provided legal protections for members of the Sackler family who own the company. The settlement had been on hold since last summer after the Supreme Court agreed to intervene.
Majority: Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, Barrett, Jackson
Dissenting votes: Kavanaugh, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan
Air pollution
The vote was 5-4 to suspend the Environmental Protection Agency’s Good Neighbor plan to combat air pollution while legal challenges continue, in response to a plea from Republican-led energy-producing states and the steel industry.
Majority: Gorsuch, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh
Dissenting votes: Barrett, Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson
SEC
By a vote of 6-3, it ruled that people facing civil fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission have the right to a jury trial in federal court and are not confined to an in-house trial. The decision deprived the agency of a key tool in the fight against securities fraud and could have broad implications for other regulators.
Majority: Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Dissenting votes: Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson
Social media and state coercion
A lawsuit brought by Republican-led states has been dismissed, alleging that federal officials unconstitutionally forced social media platforms to remove controversial social media posts on issues such as COVID-19 and election security. The court ruled 6-3 that the states and other parties had no right or standing to sue them, alleging that the government had pressured the platforms to restrict conservative viewpoints.
Majority: Barrett, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Jackson
Opposing opinion: Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch
Social media and government regulation
In a confined ruling, the court stayed social media laws in Texas and Florida that would limit Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and other social media platforms’ regulation of the content posted by their users. But the court majority recognized that the platforms are very similar to newspapers and have a constitutional right to make decisions about what can and cannot be included in their scope. The cases will continue in federal appeals courts: one court had upheld the Texas law; another found that Florida’s law was likely unconstitutional.
Majority: Kagan, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Jackson
Concurring with the judgment: Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch
Emergency abortions
The Supreme Court has granted Idaho hospitals the ability to perform emergency abortions for now. In a confined order, the court found that it should not have intervened so quickly in the case involving Idaho’s strict abortion ban. By a 6-3 vote, it reinstated a lower court order that had allowed hospitals in the state to perform emergency abortions to protect the health of a pregnant patient.
Majority: Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Jackson
Opposing opinion: Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch
homelessness
The justices concluded that cities can prohibit homeless people from sleeping outdoors in public places. The majority of justices found that such laws do not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment when there is a lack of space in shelters. The ruling overturned an appeals court ruling that applied to nine western states, including California, where one-third of the country’s homeless live.
Majority: Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Dissenting votes: Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson
