By Ivan Sanchez
With Christmas break in the rearview mirror, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), with it’s newly minted 6-3 conservative majority, will take on multiple controversies, not least among them whether or not a president has immunity from criminal prosecution.
City of Grants Pass v. Johnson stems from a controversial law in a small town in Oregon that attempted to ban camping by the homeless. The district court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals both struck down the law, although the decision was divided at the Appeals Court level. Now that SCOTUS has determined to take on the controversy, the case could have impact across the United States and the future of homeless encampments throughout the country, including here in Tennessee, where homeless encampments proliferate throughout the city.
Another case, Starbucks v. McKinney, includes a controversy out of the unionization efforts at Starbucks, in this case, stemming from the termination of seven employees in a Starbucks in Memphis, Tennessee, due to union organizing efforts. Eventually, despite the company’s tactics the store did unionize. Starbucks wants the Supreme Court to determine what test should be utilized for injunctions by the courts, as Starbucks felt that lenient standards were used to issue the injunction.
The court will also hear a case on the pill used to terminate pregnancies. In Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, they will determine whether the respondents have Article III standing to challenge decisions expanding access in 2016 and 2021, and if so, if the FDA’s actions were incorrect in those 2016 and 2021 decisions. The court will not address whether or not the initial approval of mifepristone was allowed, leaving the legality of the abortion pill intact.
Finally, the court is expected to wade into multiple lawsuits in regard to former President Donald Trump’s legal battles, and will certainly play a key role in the 2024 election. The court, and the conservative majority cemented by Trump’s appointees will continue to shape American jurisprudence in 2024 and beyond.
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