Supreme Court update: Key cases held for late June.

The Supreme Court’s Most Anticipated Decisions Await

The Supreme Court is gearing up for its most highly anticipated decisions as the clock ticks down to the end of the term. With less than two weeks remaining, the justices are faced with major disputes that range from the future of affirmative action to President Joe Biden’s plan to alleviate the burden of student loan debt.

Currently, the justices have 18 decisions left to hand down before June 30, a deadline they have traditionally met in previous terms. However, concerns have been raised about whether they will be able to finish on time, given the limited number of decisions they typically release each day and week.

“So how many are left then? How on earth are they going to get all the rest of the opinions out in two weeks if they only give 2-3 decisions per day and only do 1-2 days per week? That’s not enough time???” – question girl

While the court has occasionally released opinions in July, in recent years they have managed to complete their list of cases before their July recess, even when faced with a similar number of outstanding decisions at this point in the term.

According to Adam Feldman, founder of the blog Empirical SCOTUS, the court has been steadily releasing more opinions in June or later than ever before. In fact, the percentage of cases released in June has increased from around 25% to over 50% since Justice Elena Kagan’s appointment in 2010.

One possible reason for the late release of opinions is to allow any potential conflicts over these decisions to subside before the start of the next term in October. Additionally, highly anticipated cases often require more time to write due to their divisive nature and the potential for vote switching or requested rewrites.

Last year, Chief Justice John Roberts ordered the placement of barricades outside the Supreme Court building after a leaked draft opinion signaled the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This move was made to prevent any further leaks and protests before the official release of the decision.

While public approval of the Supreme Court is still recovering from the Dobbs decision, the cases this term are not expected to generate the same level of intense rebuke as last year. Some of the major decisions yet to be announced include the fate of affirmative action, President Biden’s student loan relief plan, a First Amendment case involving LGBT rights and religious freedom, and a dispute over religious accommodations for a Christian mail carrier.

The next day for Supreme Court opinions will be Thursday, June 22.