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Both sides prepare as Florida's six-week abortion ban is set to take effect Wednesday

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Both sides prepare as Florida's six-week abortion ban is set to take effect Wednesday

Pro-abortion rights activists gathered April 13 at a rally in Orlando, Fla., to back a referendum in November that could increase access to abortion. Nearby were activists opposed to abortion.

Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images


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Pro-abortion rights activists gathered April 13 at a rally in Orlando, Fla., to back a referendum in November that could increase access to abortion. Nearby were activists opposed to abortion.

Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Every day when Dr. Chelsea Daniels goes into her job at Planned Parenthood in Miami it “feels like another punch to the gut.”

Daniels provides abortion care in Florida, where a ban on most abortions after six-weeks of pregnancy takes effect Wednesday.

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“I’m in the clinic and seeing patients and having to inform them about this ban and just watch the panic on their face,” Daniels says. “It makes you realize how bans like this are so, so targeted and can change the trajectory of someone’s life.”

There are 14 states that ban nearly all abortions. A few others limit them to just the first six weeks of pregnancy. In Florida abortions are currently allowed up to 15 weeks until the law changes May 1.

The change has people on both sides of the issue scrambling.

Clinics in Florida work overtime as the stricter regulations loom

Florida requires people to wait at least 24-hours between their first consultation and an abortion – and sometimes they don’t even know they’re pregnant for weeks. In these last days before the six-week ban, appointments have been filling up and staff have been working overtime.

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“We recognize as healthcare providers and medical professionals that this is essential medical care,” Daniels says. “So we’re going to do everything we can to provide that care for as long as we’re legally allowed to do so.”

The six-week ban will allow exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking up until 15 weeks of pregnancy. It also includes exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities. And like the current 15-week ban, it will allow abortion in order to save the life of the pregnant person. But some doctors have already been hesitant to provide that care and Daniels worries the new law will make that even harder.

“Every day I’m seeing someone who is, I’m trying to do the calculus of, I think this pregnancy is putting my patient’s life at risk, but they live in Florida, so what are my options?”

Daniels says there can be uncertainty about the threshold for when a pregnant woman’s life is at risk and some doctors are nervous to perform abortions even when they’re in danger. “Is the exception made for the health of the life of the mother, if the life of the mother is at 50% risk, or 51% risk, or 60% risk? It’s impossible to actually calculate,” Daniels says. “Then when you have a real patient with a real clinical scenario sitting in front of you, how are you supposed to know?”

President Joe Biden spoke at a pro-reproductive rights event in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday.

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Daniels worries that confusion will get worse once the six-week ban is in place — leaving patients with few options but to travel out of state.

“Our director of case management has kind of become a travel agent at this point,” says Tampa Bay Abortion Fund Board Member McKenna Kelley.

The Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, and others like it, help with things like hotel rooms, plane tickets and the cost of an appointment at an out-of-state clinic. With the new ban looming, they’re trying to raise money and expand their network of clinics.

“We’re not going to be able to help everyone,” Kelley says. “That goes for every fund and that’s really unfortunate and that’s something we want people to understand.”

When choices are limited, one adoption agency worker says she hopes to help

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Meanwhile, people on the other side of the issue are also preparing for the six-week ban, like at Bundle of Hope Adoption Family Services in North Florida.

Founder and CEO Glenda Richardson Carr says in her line of work she never knows “what to expect from day to day so we’re always on our toes ready to go.”

She considers herself “pro-life” and agrees with the six-week ban. But she says her goal is to support and empower birth mothers who are trying to figure out their options under the new law.

“I would ask them to give me a chance to show them an option of how parenting would look in their future and how adoption would look in their future and we work it out together,” she says.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturned federal rights to abortion in Roe v. Wade, Richardson Carr says she’s seen more birth mothers seeking help with adoption and she expects to see even more once the ban goes into place. That’s although experts say many women who are prevented from terminating a pregnancy do not choose adoption and instead decide to parent themselves.

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But for any birth mothers who do want to consider adoption, Richardson Carr says she’s ready to help.

“I have no doubt that we could take every birth mom that would like to place a child for adoption and find them a family,” Richardson Carr says. “Absolutely!”

Florida voters will get to decide on abortion this November

Florida’s abortion battle will not end when the law takes effect Wednesday.

Andrew Shirvell, executive director of Florida Voice for the Unborn, says he’d like to see an end to all abortion in the state and sees the six-week ban as a step in that direction.

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“I’m hoping and praying that at least half the abortion centers in Florida will effectively shut down,” Shirvell says.

But Shirvell says his focus is the ballot question facing voters in November on whether to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. He calls it a “preeminent threat” against any future legislature’s ability to pass a total ban on abortion.

Meanwhile, others like Daniels at Planned Parenthood in Miami, see the proposed amendment as a source of hope.

“I can’t wait for November and hope everybody feels really motivated to go out and we’ll show them who is boss in just a few months,” Daniels says.

To pass, the amendment will need approval from 60 percent of the people who turn out at the polls. If the proposal passes, it’s expected to take effect in January – increasing access to abortion.

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Shipbuilder Fincantieri strikes underwater defence deal

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Shipbuilder Fincantieri strikes underwater defence deal

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Italy’s Fincantieri has acquired the submarine unit of defence group Leonardo in a deal valuing the asset at up to €415mn, as Europe’s largest shipbuilder seeks to build up its military business.

The agreement, under which Fincantieri will pay Leonardo €300mn and an additional amount of up to €115mn depending on certain targets being met this year, was announced on Thursday evening along with Fincantieri’s latest capital raise of up to €400mn. The funding round, backed by state investor Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, will finance the group’s acquisition.

Fincantieri’s purchase of Tuscany-based Wass, which makes underwater missiles and sonars, will strengthen the state-controlled company’s defence and security operations. The company manufactures both cruise and military vessels as well as submarines, and aims to expand its underwater business.

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It comes at a time when governments are seeking to protect critical underwater infrastructure assets such as telecommunication cables and energy pipelines from rogue actors.

The war in Ukraine and the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage incident have highlighted the importance of underwater security. With more underwater drones being used in the Black Sea, the conflict has underlined the importance of underwater defences.

Italy’s government is also seeking to streamline its underwater security systems, establishing a national research centre to foster business opportunities in the sector.

Leonardo, under chief executive Roberto Cingolani, has been divesting non-core assets and eyeing acquisitions. The company, which is also controlled by the government, has been looking to strengthen partnerships with other defence contractors across Europe and focus on its technology platform.

Fincantieri and Leonardo also have a joint venture, called Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, which manufactures warship systems.

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In its new business plan presented last year, the Italian shipbuilder identified the underwater security business as a key growth pillar. The defence sector accounts for one-fourth of its €7.6bn revenues.

In its presentation, Fincantieri estimated the global underwater sector, including defence, telecommunications, energy and oil and gas, to be worth up to €400bn — with defence playing a leading role — by 2030. Shares in the company have rallied almost a third since its release.

In February, Fincantieri completed the acquisition of Remazel Engineering, a company based north of Milan that specialises in designing and supplying highly complex topside equipment. The group now plans to boost growth through further acquisitions which Thursday’s capital increase will help fund, said people familiar with the plans.

After years of losses in the hundreds of millions, Fincantieri reported a net loss of €53mn in 2023, a significant improvement compared to the previous year’s losses of €324mn. Chief executive Pierroberto Folgiero, who has been at the helm since mid-2022, said the results were “the fruit of financial discipline and solid operational performance of military and civil ship building”.

Shares in Fincantieri closed down 7.5 per cent on Thursday over concerns about the size of the recapitalisation reported earlier on Thursday by Italian media.

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3 children killed in apparent murder-suicide after mom let ex-partner take them to get food, police say

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3 children killed in apparent murder-suicide after mom let ex-partner take them to get food, police say

Three children, aged 9 to 13, were killed in what police believe is a murder-suicide after their mother agreed to let an ex-partner take them to get something to eat, officials in Georgia said.

A police officer patrolling Lucky Shoals Park in Norcross, about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta, discovered the bodies of three children and an adult male shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday inside a vehicle parked on a walking trail.

The children were identified by Gwinnett County Police as Arianny Rodriguez, 13, Chadal Rodriguez, 11, and Carlos Rodriguez, 9.

The suspect was identified as Jose Plasencia, 56, who was previously in a relationship with the children’s mother.

Police said the mother was at the hospital because another one of her children had an unrelated injury. Plasencia was the father of the injured child, police said, and had met the mother and children at the hospital.

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“After some time the mother agreed to let the three children go with the suspect to grab a bite to eat while she remained at the hospital,” police said in a statement on Facebook.

Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Michele Pihera called the incident a tragedy.

“Our officers are going to step aside and … do the job to the fullest and make sure that they investigate this as if it were any other homicide. And try to, at least, bring some conclusion to the families who may be involved,” Pihera told NBC affiliate WXIA-TV of Atlanta.

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The Major Supreme Court Cases of 2024

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The Major Supreme Court Cases of 2024

No Supreme Court term in recent memory has featured so many cases with the potential to transform American society.

The consequential cases, with decisions arriving by late June or early July, include three affecting former President Donald J. Trump, two on abortion, two on guns, three on the First Amendment rights of social media companies and three on the administrative state.

In recent years, some of the court’s biggest decisions have been out of step with public opinion. Researchers at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Texas conducted a survey in March to help explore whether that gap persists.

Trump’s Ballot Eligibility

Conservative bloc

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Roberts

Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh

Barrett

Barrett

Gorsuch

Gorsuch

Alito

Alito

Thomas

Thomas

The Supreme Court ruled that states may not bar former President Donald J. Trump from running for another term, rejecting a challenge from Colorado under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits insurrectionists from holding office.

Is there a major precedent involved?

No. The Supreme Court had never before considered the scope of Section 3. The unsigned majority opinion relied in part on an 1869 decision from Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. But that was, a dissent from the court’s three liberal members said, “a nonprecedential, lower court opinion by a single justice in his capacity as a circuit judge.”
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Are there recent rulings on the subject?

No. The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in December disqualifying Mr. Trump from the state’s primary ballot acknowledged that “we travel in uncharted territory.”

A decision that Mr. Trump was ineligible to hold office would have been a political earthquake altering the course of American history.

Where does the public stand?

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Think Trump is eligible to run in 2024 Think Trump is not eligible

53%47%

Immunity for Former Presidents

The Supreme Court will decide whether former President Donald J. Trump is immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to subvert the 2020 election.

Is there a major precedent involved?

There are at least two. In 1974, in United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard M. Nixon, then still in office, had to comply with a subpoena seeking tapes of his conversations, rejecting his claims of executive privilege.

But in 1982, in Nixon v. Fitzgerald, a closely divided court ruled that Nixon, by then out of office, was absolutely immune from civil lawsuits “for acts within the ‘outer perimeter’ of his official responsibility.”

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Are there recent rulings on the subject?

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled by a 7-to-2 vote in Trump v. Vance that Mr. Trump had no absolute right to block the release of his financial records in a criminal investigation. “No citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority.

The court’s decision will determine whether and when Mr. Trump will face trial for his attempts to overturn his 2020 loss at the polls.

Where does the public stand?

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Think former presidents are not immune from criminal prosecution for actions they took while president Think former presidents are immune

74%27%

Obstruction Charges for Jan. 6 Assault

The Supreme Court will decide whether prosecutors may use a federal obstruction statute to charge rioters involved in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

Is there a major precedent involved?

In a series of decisions, the court has narrowed the reach of federal criminal laws aimed at public corruption and white-collar crime.

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Are there recent rulings on the subject?

In 2015, the Supreme Court limited the sweep of the statute at issue in the case, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for four of the justices in the majority, warned against cutting the law “loose from its financial-fraud mooring” in a case that involved a Florida fisherman who had thrown undersized fish into the Gulf of Mexico.

The case has the potential to knock out half of the federal charges against former President Donald J. Trump for plotting to subvert the 2020 election and could complicate hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions.

Where does the public stand?

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Think the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were criminal Think the events were not criminal

71%29%

Abortion Pills

Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

The Supreme Court will decide whether to overturn recent F.D.A. guidelines for distributing a commonly used abortion pill by mail and telemedicine.

Is there a major precedent involved?

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

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In 2023, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked efforts to severely curb access to the pill, mifepristone, as an appeal moved forward. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. publicly noted that they would have allowed steps seeking to limit the availability of the pill, and Justice Alito wrote a dissent.

The case will determine whether access to the drug, which is used in the majority of abortions in the United States, will be sharply curtailed.

Where does the public stand?

Think the F.D.A.’s approval of mifepristone should not be revoked Think the approval should be revoked

68%33%

Emergency Abortion Care

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The Supreme Court will decide whether a federal law that requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing care to all patients overrides a state law, in Idaho, that imposes a near-total ban on abortion.

Is there a major precedent involved?

The case is another reminder that the court has not been able to leave the question of abortion to states, as it promised in overturning Roe v. Wade after nearly half a century.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

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There are several court battles about various aspects of state abortion bans, including a fight in Texas over the federal law at issue in the case, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.

It is the first time the Supreme Court is considering a state law criminalizing abortion since it overturned Roe v. Wade. The decision may affect more than a dozen states that have passed near-total bans on abortion.

Where does the public stand?

Think Idaho hospitals must provide abortions in medical emergencies Think they are not allowed

82%18%

Second Amendment Rights of Domestic Abusers

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The Supreme Court will decide whether a federal law that makes it a crime for people subject to domestic violence restraining orders to own guns violates the Second Amendment.

Is there a major precedent involved?

Yes. In 2022, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court struck down a New York law that put strict limits on carrying guns outside the home. The decision established a new legal standard, one that required judges to assess restrictions on gun rights by turning to early American history as a guide.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

Lower courts have struck down federal laws prohibiting people who have been convicted of felonies or who use drugs from owning guns.

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The court may start to clear up the confusion it created in the Bruen decision, in the first major test of its expansion of gun rights. The standard it announced has left lower courts in turmoil as they struggle to hunt down references to obscure or since-forgotten regulations.

Where does the public stand?

Think barring domestic abusers from possessing firearms does not violate their Second Amendment rights Think it violates their rights

74%26%

Restrictions on the Homeless

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City of Grants Pass v. Johnson

The Supreme Court will decide whether ordinances in Oregon aimed at preventing homeless people from sleeping and camping outside violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Is there a major precedent involved?

Yes. The argument by the homeless plaintiffs rests heavily on a 1962 decision, Robinson v. California, in which the Supreme Court ruled that laws criminalizing a person for being addicted to narcotics violated the Eighth Amendment. The plaintiffs argue that homelessness, like drug addiction, is a state of being that cannot be punished.
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Are there recent rulings on the subject?

In 2018, an appeals court ruled in Martin v. Boise that Boise, Idaho, had infringed on the constitutional rights of homeless people by making it a crime to sleep outside, even when they had nowhere else to go.

The case could have major ramifications on how far cities across the country can go to clear homeless people from streets and other public spaces.

Where does the public stand?

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Think banning homeless people from camping outside even when local shelters are full violates the Constitution Think it does not violate the Constitution

58%42%

Social Media Platforms’ First Amendment Rights

Moody v. NetChoice; NetChoice v. Paxton

The Supreme Court will decide whether Florida and Texas may prohibit large social media companies from removing posts based on the views they express.

The laws’ supporters argue that the measures are needed to combat perceived censorship of conservative views on issues like the coronavirus pandemic and claims of election fraud. Critics of the laws say the First Amendment prevents the government from telling private companies whether and how to disseminate speech.

Is there a major precedent involved?

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There are at least two. In 1974, in Miami Herald v. Tornillo, the Supreme Court struck down a Florida law that would have allowed politicians a “right to reply” to newspaper articles critical of them.

In 1980, in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, the court said a state constitutional provision that required private shopping centers to allow expressive activities on their property did not violate the centers’ First Amendment rights.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

In 2022, in the Texas case, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked that state’s law while the appeal moved forward. The vote was 5 to 4, with an unusual coalition in dissent.

The cases arrive garbed in politics, as they concern laws aimed at protecting conservative speech. But the larger question the cases present transcends ideology. It is whether tech platforms have free speech rights to make editorial judgments.

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Where does the public stand?

Think states cannot prevent social media companies from censoring speech Think states should be able to prevent censoring

60%41%

Disinformation on Social Media

The Supreme Court will decide whether the Biden administration’s contacts with social media platforms to combat what the officials say is misinformation amounted to censorship of constitutionally protected speech.

Is there a major precedent involved?

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Yes. In Bantam Books v. Sullivan in 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that informal and indirect efforts by the government to suppress speech can violate the First Amendment.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

The Supreme Court is also considering a case that raises similar issues, National Rifle Association v. Vullo, about whether a state official in New York violated the First Amendment by encouraging companies to stop doing business with the National Rifle Association.

The case is a major test of the role of the First Amendment in the internet era, requiring the court to consider when government efforts to limit the spread of misinformation amount to censorship of constitutionally protected speech.

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Where does the public stand?

Think federal officials urging private companies to block or remove users violates the First Amendment Think it does not violate the First Amendment

62%38%

N.R.A. and the First Amendment

National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo

The Supreme Court will decide whether a New York State official violated the First Amendment by trying to persuade companies not to do business with the National Rifle Association after the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

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Is there a major precedent involved?

As in Murthy v. Missouri, the case implicates the 1963 decision Bantam Books v. Sullivan, in which the Supreme Court ruled that informal and indirect efforts by the government to suppress speech can violate the First Amendment.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

The case is one of two that will determine when government advocacy edges into violating free speech rights. The other, Murthy v. Missouri, concerns the Biden administration’s dealings with social media companies.

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The case centers on when persuasion by government officials crosses into coercion.

Where does the public stand?

Think the state regulator’s behavior violates the N.R.A.’s First Amendment rights Think it does not violate the N.R.A.’s rights

53%47%

Opioids Settlement

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Harrington v. Purdue Pharma

The Supreme Court will decide on the legality of a bankruptcy settlement with Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. In exchange for billions of dollars to battle the opioid epidemic, the deal shields members of the family behind the company, the Sacklers, from civil liability.

Is there a major precedent involved?

The case is the first time the Supreme Court will address whether a bankruptcy plan can be structured to give civil legal immunity to a third party, without the consent of all potential claimholders. The legal maneuver under scrutiny has become increasingly popular in bankruptcy settlements.

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Are there recent rulings on the subject?

Approving the deal would funnel money toward states and others who have waited for years for some kind of settlement. Yet the Sacklers would be largely absolved from future opioid-related claims. More broadly, the case may have implications for similar agreements insulating a third party from liability.

Where does the public stand?

Think the Sackler family should not keep immunity from future lawsuits Think family should keep immunity

74%27%

Racial Gerrymandering

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Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the N.A.A.C.P.

The justices will decide whether to reinstate a South Carolina voting map that a three-judge court had ruled was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The parties had asked the Supreme Court to rule by Jan. 1, but its delay in resolving the case ensured that the 2024 election would take place under the rejected map.

Is there a major precedent involved?

Yes. A series of Supreme Court decisions say that making race the predominant factor in drawing voting districts violates the Constitution.

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Are there recent rulings on the subject?

The case is superficially similar to one from Alabama in which the court ruled last year that state lawmakers had diluted the power of Black voters in drawing a congressional voting map. But the two cases involve distinct legal principles.

The Alabama case was governed by the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights statute, and the one from South Carolina by the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

The case concerns a constitutional puzzle: how to distinguish the roles of race and partisanship in drawing voting maps when Black voters overwhelmingly favor Democrats. The difference matters because the Supreme Court has said that only racial gerrymandering may be challenged in federal court under the Constitution.

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Where does the public stand?

Think these changes to the districts are unconstitutional Think they are constitutional

67%33%

Power of Federal Agencies

Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo; Relentless v. Department of Commerce

The court will decide whether to overrule a foundational 1984 precedent on the power of government agencies, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. It said that courts must defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes.

Is there a major precedent involved?

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Yes. Chevron is one of the most cited cases in American law.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

Chevron has fallen out of favor at the Supreme Court in recent years, and several justices have criticized it. The court, which had invoked Chevron at least 70 times to decide cases, has not done so since 2016.

“The question is less whether this court should overrule Chevron,” Paul D. Clement, one of the lawyers for the challengers, told the justices, “and more whether it should let lower courts and citizens in on the news.”

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Overturning the decision could threaten regulations on the environment, health care, consumer safety, nuclear energy, government benefit programs and guns. It would also shift power from agencies to Congress and to judges.

Where does the public stand?

Courts should defer to administrative agencies when laws are unclear Courts should not defer to agencies

51%49%

Agency Funding

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America

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The court will decide whether the way Congress funds a consumer watchdog violates the appropriations clause of the Constitution.

Is there a major precedent involved?

There is no precedent squarely on point.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

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In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that a different part of the law creating the consumer bureau was unconstitutional, saying that Congress could not insulate the bureau’s director from presidential oversight.

A ruling against the bureau, created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act after the financial crisis, could cast doubt on every regulation and enforcement action it took in the dozen years of its existence. That includes agency rules — and punishments against companies that flout them — involving mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans and banking.

Where does the public stand?

Think this agency funding structure is unconstitutional Think it is constitutional

55%45%

Administrative Courts

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Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy

The Supreme Court will decide whether the Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house administrative courts are lawful.

Is there a major precedent involved?

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

A ruling against the S.E.C. would not only require it to file cases in federal court but could also imperil administrative tribunals at many other agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration and the National Labor Relations Board.

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Where does the public stand?

Think federal agencies bringing actions in administrative proceedings rather than in federal courts is not constitutional Think it is constitutional

68%32%

Cross-State Air Pollution

Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency

The Supreme Court will decide whether to temporarily stop the Biden administration’s “good neighbor” plan, which requires factories and power plants in Western and Midwestern states to cut air pollution that drifts into Eastern states.
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Is there a major precedent involved?

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

Prevailing winds carry emissions of nitrogen oxide toward Eastern states with fewer industrial sites. The pollutant causes smog and is linked to asthma, lung disease and premature death.

Bump Stocks for Guns

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The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration overstepped its bounds by enacting a ban on bump stocks, gun attachments that increase a semiautomatic weapon’s rate of fire to hundreds of bullets per minute.

Is there a major precedent involved?

At first glance, the case looks as if it could be a Second Amendment challenge. But it is instead one of a number of cases aimed at curtailing the power of administrative agencies, in this instance, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Are there recent rulings on the subject?

The case involves how to interpret a federal law that banned machine guns, the National Firearms Act of 1934. The definition was broadened by the Gun Control Act of 1968 to include parts that can be used to convert a weapon into a machine gun. At issue is whether bump stocks fall within those definitions. Federal appeals courts have split on the issue.

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A decision could do away with one of the few efforts at gun control that gained political traction after the Las Vegas massacre in 2017. More broadly, a ruling could help clarify the scope of the power of federal agencies.

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