Sotomayor
Kagan
Ginsburg
Breyer
Kennedy
Roberts
Alito
Thomas
Abortion
TO BE ARGUED MARCH 2, 2016
The court will hear a challenge to a Texas law in
Whole
Woman’s Health v. Cole that
would leave the state with about 10 abortion clinics, down
from more than 40. The court has not heard a major abortion
case since 2007, and this case has the potential to revise
the constitutional principles governing abortion rights.
Without Justice Scalia,
a 4-to-4 split would automatically affirm the appeals
court’s ruling without giving reasons and without setting a
precedent. In this case, that would uphold the restrictions
and close all but about 10 clinics. But the Supreme Court
would set no national rules, and the relevant constitutional
principles would remain unchanged.
Affirmative Action
ARGUED DEC. 9, 2015
In
Fisher
v. University of Texas, the court will decide whether
the race-conscious program used to admit students to the
University of Texas at Austin violates the Constitution’s
equal protection principles. The ruling could be narrow, as
the Texas plan is idiosyncratic, or broad, affecting the
admissions policies of most colleges and universities.
Without Justice Scalia,
the case will be decided by seven members of the court,
because Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself.
Class Actions
ARGUED NOV. 10, 2015
This class action,
Tyson
Foods v. Bouaphakeo, was brought by workers at a pork
processing plant who said they did not get enough overtime
pay for the time they spent putting on and taking off
protective gear and the like. The court will decide whether
the workers may rely on statistical formulas to establish
what they are owed or whether they must establish damages
individually.
Without Justice Scalia,
a 4-to-4 tie would leave in place the workers’ victory.
Contraception
TO BE ARGUED MARCH 23, 2016
In
Zubik
v. Burwell, the court will consider how a
contraception-coverage requirement under the Affordable Care
Act applies to religiously affiliated institutions like
schools and hospitals. Many of them object to an
accommodation offered by the Obama administration that
allows them to avoid the requirement by filling out a form,
saying that makes them complicit in sinful conduct.
Without Justice Scalia,
a 4-to-4 tie would affirm a number of appeals court
decisions, most but not all sustaining the accommodation.
Immigration
ARGUMENTS NOT YET SCHEDULED
In
United
States v. Texas, the court will consider whether the
Obama administration was entitled to shield more than four
million undocumented immigrants from deportation and to
allow them to work.
Without Justice Scalia,
a 4-to-4 tie would result in a major loss for the
administration, effectively upholding a nationwide
injunction blocking the program.
Jury Selection
ARGUED NOV. 2, 2015
In
Foster
v. Chatman, the court will decide whether prosecutors in
Georgia violated the Constitution by systematically
excluding blacks from the jury in a capital case, leaving an
all-white panel to decide the fate of a black defendant
accused of killing a white woman.
It is not clear how Justice Scalia’s
absence will
affect the case, which seemed headed for a lopsided ruling
favoring the defendant until a procedural wrinkle arose at
the argument.
Public Unions
ARGUED JAN. 11, 2016
In
Friedrichs
v. California Teachers Association, the court will
consider whether public employees who choose not to join
unions may be required to pay fees for the union’s
collective bargaining activities. The decision could deal a
major blow to organized labor.
Without Justice Scalia,
a loss for the unions is likely to be avoided, and the case
will probably end in a 4-to-4 tie affirming the appeals
court’s decision favoring the unions.
Voting Rights
ARGUED DEC. 8, 2015
The court will decide the meaning of “one person, one vote”
in
Evenwel
v. Abbott. The court has long said that state voting
districts must have roughly equal populations, but it has
never specified whether they should have the same number of
people or the same number of eligible voters. Should the
court require or allow counting only voters, the political
power of districts including disproportionate numbers of
unauthorized immigrants could be diminished, generally
benefitting Republicans.
Without Justice Scalia,
a 4-to-4 tie would affirm an appeals court ruling endorsing
Texas’s approach of counting everyone.
Capital Sentencing
DECIDED JAN. 12, 2016
8-1
Sotomayor
Kagan
Ginsburg
Breyer
Kennedy
Roberts
Alito
Thomas
Scalia
In
Hurst
v. Florida, the court struck down an aspect of Florida’s
capital punishment system, in which the state allowed
nonunanimous juries to recommend death sentences and left
the final sentencing to a judge, saying it did not give
jurors a sufficient role in deciding whether defendants
should be put to death.
Juvenile Justice
DECIDED JAN. 25, 2016
6-3
Sotomayor
Kagan
Ginsburg
Breyer
Kennedy
Roberts
Alito
Thomas
Scalia
The court ruled in
Montgomery
v. Louisiana that
its 2012 decision banning mandatory life-without-parole
sentences for juvenile killers must be applied
retroactively, allowing the possibility of eventual release
for hundreds of inmates now serving life sentences without
the possibility of parole for murders they committed in
their youth.