US Supreme Court will battle to shore up legitimacy

Significance

Although much of its docket remains to be filled, it has chosen to address some of the country’s most politically contentious topics. It has scheduled arguments on cases that will shape the right to abortion, affect aspects of gun control and free speech, and reconsider the separation of church and state.

Impacts

• The justices will now be in the Supreme Court building rather than working remotely, but with altered rules for oral arguments.
• In addition to cases already accepted, the Court could choose to hear a case about race-based admissions at Harvard University.
• The Court’s new conservative majority makes it more probable that several long-standing legal precedents will be overruled.
• Justice Stephen Breyer, now aged 83, is continuing on the Court despite some calls for him to retire.