The nation’s highest court is saving some of its most contentious rulings for a dramatic finish.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court will release the final decisions of its current term, with a docket stacked full of politically charged and socially volatile issues still awaiting resolution. Among the headline cases: a Trump-era move to curtail birthright citizenship, a legal assault on Obamacare’s preventive care mandates, and a challenge to requiring age checks for online porn consumers.
Chief Justice John Roberts made the announcement Wednesday, setting the stage for a judicial crescendo that could reshape American law in areas ranging from immigration to education to internet regulation.
The birthright citizenship case—triggered by former President Donald Trump’s emergency executive order to deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants—remains unresolved. Though multiple federal courts blocked the order as unconstitutional, citing the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court’s impending decision could ignite a new chapter in the ongoing battle over immigration and constitutional interpretation.
But that’s just the start.
The justices are also expected to weigh in on whether school districts can force parents to keep their kids in elementary classes featuring LGBTQ+ themed books—despite religious or moral objections. Meanwhile, another looming decision will determine if the federal government can continue mandating free preventive care under Obamacare, a program that has weathered over a decade of legal storms.
Tech policy is also on the line. A challenge to the FCC’s authority to fund nationwide phone and broadband access awaits its verdict, as does the legality of new age-verification laws aimed at shielding minors from explicit online content.
And on the emergency docket—cases that can be ruled on at any moment without full argument—Trump’s push to slash federal jobs and undermine the Department of Education continues to hang in limbo.
As the court enters its final day of decision-making for the term, Friday promises a firestorm of legal clarity—or fresh controversy.
