U.S. Supreme Court

I do not recall ever facing a new year with such a sense of trepidation and even fear of what to expect. The presidential election campaign of 2024 promises to be unlike any we have seen in American history, and it seems inevitable that the U.S. Supreme Court will play a large role. And the docket for the current term is filled with major issues about controversial matters, such as abortion, administrative law, gun rights and the First Amendment and social media.

The 2024 presidential election

Even with the election 10 months away, already it is clear that the Supreme Court is going to be involved. On Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that Donald Trump was disqualified from being on the Republican primary ballot for president because of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. This provision precludes anyone who has previously taken an oath of office from holding public office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States. On Dec. 28, the Secretary of State of Maine ruled that Trump was disqualified from being on the ballot in that state. On the other hand, the Minnesota Supreme Court came to an opposite conclusion. It is important for the United States Supreme Court to take the Colorado case and decide quickly whether Trump is disqualified from being on the ballot. It is urgent that this issue be resolved early and for the entire country before a significant number of primaries. The nightmare would be for the issue to come to the court only after Trump had sewn up the nomination or even worse, after he had been selected as president by the Electoral College. But this is not the only case coming to the court with implications for the election.

Abortion

The Supreme Court has granted review in its first case concerning abortion since overruling Roe v. Wade in 2022. In Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which has not yet been scheduled for oral arguments, the court will review a 5th Circuit decision that overturned actions of the FDA which made it easier to prescribe mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions. Although the 5th Circuit overruled a district court decision that would have taken mifepristone entirely off the market, it found that the FDA acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it made it easier in 2016 and 2021 to administer the drug.

Administrative law

This will be an important term for the Roberts court and the administrative state. On Nov. 29, the court heard oral arguments in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, that poses several important issues: Does it violate the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial for a federal agency to impose monetary penalties? Is it an impermissible delegation of powers for Congress to let the agency choose whether to proceed in federal court or in agency proceedings? Is it a violation of separation of powers to have administrative law judges with protection from removal when there are limits on removal of the top agency officials? On Jan. 17, the court will hear two cases—Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce—about whether it should end Chevron deference, the principle that courts should defer to federal agencies when they interpret the statutes they operate under.