[1/2] Visitors pass in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, where rulings are expected, in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
June 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a series of important rulings during its term that began last October on issues including affirmative action, student loans, free speech, LGBT rights, voting rights, immigration and environmental regulation.
Here is a look at some of the rulings issued by the court this term.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
The court on June 29 struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, effectively prohibiting affirmative action policies long used to raise the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students on American campuses. It ruled that affirmative action admissions programs that consider an applicant’s race in ways like Harvard and UNC did violate the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equal protection under the law.
FREE SPEECH AND LGBT RIGHTS
The court on June 30 dealt a blow to LGBT rights by ruling that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings despite state anti-discrimination law. The Constitution’s First Amendment allows an evangelical Christian web designer who objects on religious grounds to gay marriage to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings, it found.
STUDENT LOANS
The justices on June 30 blocked President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt. The court invoked the
PPP loans cost nearly double what Biden’s student debt forgiveness would have. Here’s how the programs compare.
