The Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS) has announced decisions that favor conservatives. Two 6-3 decisions and one unanimous decision were announced today. Two lawsuits pertained to student debt, and one involved exercising religious freedom.
The first student debt relief lawsuit, Department of Education v. Brown, originated from two student loan debtors who weren’t eligible for relief and subsequently sued to nullify the program. They argued that Biden’s use of the post-9/11 HEROES Act represented an instance of executive overextension. SCOTUS gave the 9-0 conclusion that these borrowers were not in a position to file a lawsuit but also clarified that the Biden administration lacked the power to pardon the debt.
In the second student debt lawsuit, referred to as Nebraska V. Biden, the majority opinion read that “The HEROES Act allows the Secretary to ‘waive or modify’ existing statutory or regulatory provisions applicable to financial assistance programs under the Education Act but does not allow the Secretary to rewrite that statute to the extent of canceling $430 billion of student loan principal.” Justice Elena Kagan authored the dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, starting with, “In every respect, the Court today exceeds its proper, limited role in our Nation’s governance.”
In the religious freedom case of 303 Creative LLC Vs. Elenis, the Supreme Court delivered a 6-3 verdict favoring a Christian graphic web designer, Lorie Smith. The lawsuit stems from Smith’s refusal to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. The legal statutes for same-sex couples passed in Colorado’s legislature, prompting Smith’s legal action against the state. Ultimately, the lawsuit challenged the law prohibiting businesses from refusing services based on the sexual orientation of the customer.
In its decision, the conservative majority of the Court determined that Colorado cannot compel “an individual to communicate in a manner that complies with its ideologies yet contradicts her deeply-held convictions on a subject of great importance.” Smith, the proprietor of the design firm 303 Creative, which has previously catered to gay clients, wishes to serve heterosexual couples through her wedding website enterprise exclusively. She contended that the law in Colorado would coerce her and other artists to produce personalized messages that conflict with their beliefs and infringe on their First Amendment rights. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sotomayor stated: “Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
