Supreme Court news: Justices punt on major cases while liberals score majorities in two rulings
Kaelan Deese
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The Supreme Court did not decide on any of the major cases pending this term on Friday, signaling it will be saving decisions on matters such as the fate of affirmative action and student loan challenges for the final weeks of June.
The two opinions on Friday were majority decisions authored by liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan, with the former writing a unanimous decision and Kagan winning over every justice in her opinion aside from Justice Clarence Thomas.
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Jackson’s unanimous decision in Lora v. United States sided with a criminal defendant on a federal sentencing statute challenge. The full court held that sentences imposed under Section 924(j) can run concurrently or consecutively with another sentence.
The full court decided that Efrain Lora, a Bronx drug dealer who received consecutive sentences amounting to 30 years for participating in a shooting that killed a rival dealer and for abetting the use of a gun that he did not personally fire, should have instead served concurrent sentences.
Next, Kagan’s 8-1 opinion in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources preserved the Justice Department’s ability to toss a lawsuit against a UnitedHealth Group unit by a former employee named Jesse Polansky, who accused it of wrongdoing.
Polansky sought to block the department from dismissing whistleblower lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act in instances the government previously declined to exercise its right to take over the cases.
The ruling’s only dissent was Thomas, who wrote that the text and structure of the False Claims Act should require the opposite response of Kagan’s majority holding.
“This case requires us to decide whether the Government enjoys the same panoply of procedural rights when it takes over an action during the seal period and when (as here) it intervenes in the action ‘at a later date’ after the relator has ‘proceed[ed] with the action,’” Thomas wrote.
The high court has 18 cases left to decide before the end of its term in June.
Some of those major decisions include determining the fate of affirmative action in a challenge to race-based admission policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which were alleged to be discriminatory against Asian American applicants.
Also under consideration is President Joe Biden’s plan to provide up to $20,000 in student loan relief under his debt forgiveness program introduced last year.
A major First Amendment case is also on the table, surrounding LGBT rights and religious freedom. The case deals with a challenge to a public accommodations law in Colorado, which website designer Lorie Smith said violates her constitutional rights of free speech by requiring her to build wedding websites for same-sex couples despite her personal objections.
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Another religious rights challenge is expected in a dispute surrounding a Christian mail carrier who claims he was denied religious accommodations when he was told to work on Sundays.
The next chance for the high court to decide on these major topics will be Thursday, June 22.