Latest US Supreme Court Rulings

By Max Roemer

 The United States Supreme Court finished its term on Friday, June 27, 2025. After a trying and grueling term filled with many uncertainties, in one fell swoop the Court issued rulings on many divisive cases such as birthright citizenship, limiting the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide blanket injunctions against government policies, a Texas law requiring age verification for access to sexually explicit online content was addressed and concluded, and, additionally, the Court ruled to allow parents to opt their children out of certain school materials with LGBTQ+ themes, and other cases were issued their final ruling by the Court.

  The ruling on LGBTQ+ themes passed by a vote of 6-3. The court sided with parents who sought to opt their children out of classroom materials containing LGBTQ+ themes. Many school districts nationwide were teaching said issues to 5- and 6-year-old students in some instances.

  Certain districts and parents were demanding that books covering LGBTQ+ be kept in schools’ libraries and must be taught in the classroom as well. LGBTQ+ is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, and Questioning of one’s own sexuality, and + means anything beyond the acronyms related to the other dozens of made-up gender identities. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual are orientations. Most mental health professionals cite the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, also known as the DSM-5-TR, and the manual states that transsexuality is a mental illness known as gender dysphoria (gender confusion) There is a distinct difference between sexual orientation and a psychiatric illness. Against parents’ approval and consent, schools and libraries were hosting, for example, “Drag Queen Story Hour” for students as young as pre-kindergarten. Sometimes schools required students to attend these story hours and read LGBTQ+ themed books without notifying the parents. Many parents found this to be an outrageous and flagrant violation of their religious and parental rights by these entities. Under President Donald Trump, the United States State Department only supports and recognizes protections for LGB and not TQ+ as displayed on their official government website. The Court’s ruling allows parents and guardians to remove their children from lessons or discussions they deem inappropriate, citing concerns about religious freedom and parental rights.

  The Supreme Court ruled on the Texas Pornography Law. The Court upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for access to online pornography websites. This law aims to protect minors from harmful content but has faced stringent challenges based on First Amendment concerns restricting access for adults. Pornography websites may operate within Texas and other states with similar laws if the user’s age is verified. Two ways of verifying age are by having a valid credit card with the assumption that credit cards are not issued to minors or by submitting a copy of your driver’s license or identification card that is government issued and is valid. Arguably the most popular pornography website, PornHub, decided to stop operating in Texas all together due to the hurdles users and the website must overcome to view their material. It is recommended that parents and guardians install blocking software on their minor’s computers and cell phones as an effort to curb access to pornography and adult websites. The opposition to this law argued to the Court that this is a First Amendment issue and that their rights are being stifled unlawfully by state law. And, that pornography websites that are asking users to identify themselves for access to their content is unconstitutional. The majority of the Court disagreed with this argument and sided with Texas.

  Drastically expanding the power and authority of the President of the United States regarding nationwide injunctions by lower courts, the Supreme Court ruled that lower courts’ power to issue nationwide injunctions, which stop the government from enforcing policies across the entire country, is limited. This is seen as a huge win for the Trump administration, as it limits the ability of courts to block their policies. The Trump administration seeks to overturn rulings nationwide of federal and appellate courts that ruled against its policies thereby creating nationwide laws and limitations. The Supreme Court ruled that judges acted outside of the authority and jurisdiction of their courts.

  The Court sided with the Trump administration’s request to limit universal injunctions issued by federal courts regarding birthright citizenship. This has been a long-standing policy of the United States that if you are born on American soil, territory, or foreign military base that you are automatically an American citizen by birth right. Lawmakers argued that birthright citizenship was being abused by foreign family members and extended foreign family members of the child born in the United States. Hence, the term “anchor babies” as the child is used to obtain visas and citizenship in our country for foreign born parents and family members. While the Supreme Court finishes hearing all arguments for and against their ruling, the Court has limited President Trump from enforcing this policy for 30 days.

  The Supreme Court also upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, ensuring at least for now, that some 150 million people will continue getting many free, preventive services under the act. The ruling continues to allow the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to continue determining which services will be available free of cost to Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act.

  The Supreme Court upheld a program providing subsidized internet and phone services to underserved communities across the United States. Conservative groups challenged the program, contending that Congress exceeded its powers in enacting legislation that delegated to the Federal Communications Commission the task of operating the Universal Service Fund, a program that provides subsidized telephone and internet services to rural healthcare providers, schools and libraries, and low-income Americans. The Court rejected that argument. Justice Kagan said Congress’ delegation to the FCC didn’t violate the Constitution.

  The Supreme Court said that it would reargue Louisiana’s congressional redistricting plan in its next term, after this summer. The issue at hand is Louisiana’s legislature’s creation of a black-majority congressional district. A group of non-African Americans sued, claiming the district was an illegal racial gerrymander. Those who oppose the redistricting argue that the state Legislature had unconstitutionally relied on race in drawing new congressional district lines.

  The Supreme court has decided to allow South Carolina to bar Planned Parenthood’s access to federal Medicaid funding for non-abortion services. Because of this decision, the Court allows states to ban the organization from getting Medicaid reimbursements for cancer screenings and other care not related to abortion. As Republican Governor Henry McMaster put it, “Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize abortion providers who are in direct opposition to their beliefs.”

  When considering the numerous decisions by the Supreme Court this past Friday, the rulings are a huge win for the Trump administration and conservatives nationwide. The court maintains a 6 to 3 conservative majority of associates on the court, and by their rulings many conservative values and principles were upheld and became law. How these rulings will reshape our states and nation are yet to be seen.