As the Supreme Court Of The United States (SCOTUS) returned for a new term on October 3, 2023, which runs throughout June 2024, here are the most important cases the court will be ruling on.
First Amendment: Social Media Content Moderation
As previously discussed in a recent post at Policymattersinc.org, the Supreme Court is set to rule on GOP-led regulatory laws enacted in the states of Florida and Texas concerning censorship in certain social media platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter).
If upheld, the decision can essentially expose social media platforms to increased regulatory state legislations and content moderation lawsuits.
“These cases could completely reshape the digital public sphere. The question of what limits the First Amendment imposes on legislatures’ ability to regulate social media is immensely important – for speech, and for democracy as well,” said Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, in a statement.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the CFPB, a watchdog agency responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector and enacted in response to the financial crisis of 2007-08, is under review after the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declared the agency unconstitutional.
This is mainly due to the fact that Congress funds the agency through the Federal Reserve System to ensure its independence. However, the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals held that the funding scheme violates the Appropriations Clause of The Constitution which “ensures Congress” “exclusive power over the federal purse.”
According to Vox News, upholding this decision could have calamitous results as explained in a brief filed by the banking industry, the entire US mortgage market could seize up with the decision risking economic devastation unheard of since the Great Depression.
Second Amendment: Domestic Abuser Gun Restrictions
Another Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision that has come under review is its invalidation of a Federal Law that bars an individual who is subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm. This essentially means an individual who has been ruled by a court to be a violent threat to their romantic partner or their partner’s child has a constitutional right to possess a firearm.
The Biden Administration has appealed, saying the ruling, “ threatens grave harms for victims of domestic violence.”
According to Vox News, the Supreme Court is likely set to reverse this ruling.
Other than these three cases, The Supreme Court Of The United States is also set to rule on Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine V. FDA, which attempts to ban the abortion medication mifepristone; and Doe v. Mckensson, which effectively strips political organizers of their First Amendment right to organize a protest.
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