Three pending Supreme Court decisions that could change America

The new term of the Supreme Court begins Monday October 7. It comes with major cases that will help define life in the United States, from gun control to online pornography.

Here are the main cases the court will consider during this period:

DIY Ghost Guns

If a weapon comes in separate parts that you must assemble yourself, are you being sold a weapon or weapon parts? If it is the latter, why should the buyer comply with gun registration and other paperwork?

This is the question that the Supreme Court will have to ask itself during the hearing of the arguments on the second day of its mandate.

On October 8, the court will hear the pleadings In Garland v. VanDerStoka challenge to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regulation that imposes new requirements on previously untraceable “ghost guns.” assembled by the buyer.

Untraceable gun parts are typically purchased online and their use has increased in recent years.

The ATF rule, introduced in April 2022, changes the definition of a firearm to include self-assembly kits. It also states that partially assembled weapons that can easily be converted into complete firearms must be registered as firearms.

That means owners must have a gun license and undergo a background check, and guns must have traceable serial numbers.

The gun dealers challenged the regulation and won in a federal appeals court. The government is now contesting this decision.

Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, said News week that the case will constitute a very interesting test for the Supreme Court.

“The current court has been very protective of gun rights, for example by ruling Garland v. Cargill that the law regulating machine guns did not allow the executive branch to adopt regulations limiting stops, which, in operation, allow rapid fire, much like machine guns,” he said.

Furthermore, by its June decision in the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo In this case, “the current court has limited the power of the executive branch to expand laws through administrative regulations.”

“Unlike the Cargill In the case of bump stops, the ghost gun regulations do not expand on the Congressional definition, they simply follow it,” Germain said.

“The outcome of the case will reveal whether the majority of the Supreme Court relies on constitutional principles or whether they are political hacks abusing their position to legislate from the bench.

“I’m probably in the minority among law professors, but I hope they show the lower courts the importance of respecting the law and ruling on principle, regardless of their personal political beliefs,” he said. he declared.

Gender transition

In United States vs. SkrmettiThe Supreme Court will review a Tennessee law banning gender transition treatment for minors.

More than 20 states have passed laws that block minors’ access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgery.

The medications in question may be used to treat other medical conditions unrelated to gender identification.

The Tennessee law, enacted in March, prohibits health care providers from providing hormones or puberty blockers to “enable a minor to identify with or live according to a purported identity inconsistent with his or her gender.”

Two transgender boys and a transgender girl are challenging the law, saying it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

A federal district court struck down the Tennessee law, and that decision was overturned on appeal.

Germain said News week that he would be “very surprised” if the Supreme Court struck down Tennessee’s law.

“Allowing drug use for some conditions and not others doesn’t seem to me to violate equal protection. But it’s the ultimate political hot potato these days,” he said.

Age Verification for Porn Sites

In Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. PaxtonThe court will consider a Texas law that requires pornographic websites to verify a user’s age.

The Texas law, enacted in June 2023, required users to be 18 years or older to view content on adult websites where one-third of the content might be harmful to minors. Additionally, pornographic websites must display health warnings about the psychological risks of adult material.

There is a growing trend to introduce such laws.

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia have all passed age verification laws.

Eric C. Chaffee, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said News week that this case will test the limits of freedom of expression.

“Even with these high standards for speech restrictions, opponents of age verification laws may have a hard time prevailing in this case. They argue that these types of age verification laws age are an attempt to impede adults’ access to constitutionally protected speech “Children have long been considered a compelling government interest by the Supreme Court,” he said.

“The case will turn on whether the Court finds that age verification is the least restrictive means of protecting minors from pornography in cyberspace.”