Significant Supreme Court Cases Remaining in the 2021-2022 Term
With the Supreme Court approaching the start of summer, the justices will likely decide the court’s major remaining cases by late June. Here is a list of the major decisions expected from the nine justices.
Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP
The justices will decide whether North Carolina lawmakers may intervene in a lawsuit to defend the state’s voter-ID law because they disagree with the litigation strategy of the state attorney general, who is already representing the state, and what standard would allow lawmakers to intervene in the future.
GRANTED: Nov 24, 2021
ARGUED: Mar 21, 2022
The court will consider the Biden administration’s decision to end the “remain in Mexico” policy also known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The policy requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they await a hearing in a U.S. immigration court. The current administration claims it can end the policy under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
GRANTED: Feb 18, 2022
ARGUED: Apr 26, 2022
The issue in this case is whether a state law prohibiting students from using a generally available student-aid program at private schools offering religious teachings violates the First Amendment’s Religion and Equal Protection Clauses.
GRANTED: Jul 2, 2021
ARGUED: Dec 8, 2021
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
The court will consider whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional. The outcome of the case could overturn precedents establishing the right under the federal constitution to pre-viability abortions established in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. The Dobbs case received recent publicity when a draft opinion was leaked to an online publisher.
GRANTED: May 17, 2021
ARGUED: Dec 1, 2021
Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez and Garland v. Gonzalez
These two cases address the issue of due process for noncitizens who have spent more than six months in immigration detention and their rights to a hearing before an immigration judge to determine if they can be released on bond.
GRANTED: Aug 23, 2021
ARGUED: Jan 11, 2022
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
The justices will consider whether a public school violated the First Amendment rights of a football coach, Joseph A. Kennedy, who prayed with students after a game on a public football field. The school did not re-hire Kennedy after the prayer controversy.
GRANTED: Jan 14, 2022
ARGUED: Apr 25, 2022
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen
The court will consider whether New York state’s denial of concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violates the Second Amendment, and whether individuals generally have the right to carry concealed firearms outside the home for the purpose of self-defense.
GRANTED: Apr 26, 2021
ARGUED: Nov 3, 2021
The justices must decide whether the state of Oklahoma can prosecute non-Indians who allegedly committed crimes against Native Americans on tribal lands.
GRANTED: Jan 21, 2022
ARGUED: Apr 27, 2022
The justices will consider whether a hospital employee can sue a police officer personally, because the officer did not read the employee his Miranda rights before questioning and arresting the man for assaulting a patient.
GRANTED: Jan 14, 2022
ARGUED: Apr 20, 2022
West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency
The court must decide whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as it considers cost, non-air impacts, and energy requirements, or if those EPA powers were limited by Congress under the Clean Air Act.
GRANTED: Oct 29, 2021
ARGUED: Feb 28, 2022
Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.