<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656514296302,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000177-1b39-d2c7-af7f-5fbf13ff0004","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656514296302,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000177-1b39-d2c7-af7f-5fbf13ff0004","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_56514139", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1042265"} }); ","_id":"00000181-aff2-df08-a3b3-ffff36f50000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe Supreme Court is poised to conclude its precedent-shattering term on Thursday with two more big cases left to decide, including major decisions affecting President Joe Biden‘s climate agenda and immigration policies.
With just a pair of cases left for the court to hand back, Thursday at 10 a.m. ET will bring answers tailored to two issues that could drastically affect Biden’s agenda to utilize the Environmental Protection Agency to fight climate change, as well as his pursuit to end the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols program, which requires asylum-seekers coming from the southern border to reside in Mexico while awaiting immigration hearings.
The high court decided two cases on Wednesday, the first being a challenge brought by the state of Oklahoma to reverse the court’s 2020 ruling that rendered a large eastern portion of the state as Indian Country. The previous decision meant a major portion of Oklahoma was out of reach of the state’s criminal jurisdiction, with only tribes and the federal government having prosecutorial authority.
HIGH COURT ALLOWS OKLAHOMA TO PROSECUTE NON-INDIAN CRIMINAL OFFENDERS ON TRIBAL LANDS
In a 5-4 opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court found that the federal government and Oklahoma have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-natives against Native Americans in Indian Country.
The second 5-4 opinion on Wednesday was authored by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer and found that a former state trooper can sue Texas over his claim that he was wrongfully terminated when he returned from Army service in Iraq.
Breyer will step down from his nearly 28 years on the bench after the term concludes this month, paving the way for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the newest high court associate justice following her April Senate confirmation.
Here are the remaining cases left before the term ends:
West Virginia v. EPA
The Supreme Court heard arguments in February over a lawsuit by a coalition of states and coal companies seeking to limit the Environmental Protection Agency‘s authority to regulate power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions, with the majority of justices appearing to see the agency’s power as narrow.
The primary question of the case is whether the EPA’s reach extends outside of energy plants to encompass broader aspects of the U.S. energy sector as part of its efforts to combat air pollution.
If the court decides the EPA has overstepped its reach in regulating carbon output, that case may have a broad impact on other administrative agencies across the executive branch.
“Remain in Mexico”
Biden v. Texas is the case involving a Trump-era immigration policy commonly referred to as “Remain in Mexico,” which was enacted in 2019.
The policy mandates that asylum-seekers at the southern border stay in Mexico while awaiting asylum hearings, which can last from months to years.
President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has disputed the Trump-era policy and is appealing lower court rulings that required the 2019 immigration program, previously known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, to remain in place.
The president initially paused the program after taking office in January 2021, and the DHS ended the program in June 2021. However, the administration was successfully sued by Texas and Missouri to reinstate it and lost an appeal to the Supreme Court by a 6-3 vote that refused to intervene on an emergency basis.
Landmark decisions issued this term
Justices finally rendered a 5-1-3 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Friday, upending landmark cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, giving states the right to make laws severely limiting abortion access.
The Supreme Court also ruled Thursday that a long-standing New York concealed carry law violated the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Justice Clarence Thomas authored the 6-3 ruling against New York’s 108-year-old law that limited who can obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in public.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Additionally, the high court ruled 6-3 in an opinion Monday in favor of a former high school football coach who was fired from his job for his postgame prayers on the field.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, arguing the fear of offending the Constitution’s establishment clause does not require the government “to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
