Trump wasn't the only Supreme Court winner this year. Here's the scorecard.
WASHINGTON −President Donald Trumpcelebrated what he called an "amazing decision," thanking each of the conservativeSupreme Courtjustices after the courtwrapped up its termon June 30. Conservative religious parents also cheered a major court ruling in their favor as the court continued its trend of siding with religious groups. But advocates for migrants, LGBTQ+ rights activists and others were left shaking their heads and vowing to find other ways to keep fighting on issues that went against them. And an appeals court that is proving to be more conservative than the Supreme Court racked up more losses. Here is a list of winners and losers from the court's term that began in October. President Trump The president called asurprise news conferencesoon after theSupreme Courtissued itsfinal rulingsof the term to praise the justices' work, including an opinion "that we're very happy about." "The Constitution has been brought back," Trump said about the conservative majority'sdecisionlimiting the ability of judges to block his policies from taking effect while they're being litigated. The opinion, which left uncertain which babies born in the United States will automitially become citizens,set off shockwavesamong migrant communities. Even before that decision, the Supreme Court had helped Trump by lifting through emergency orders many of the pauses lower courts had put on Trump's efforts to slash and restructure the federal government and to rapidly deport migrants. The Roberts, Kavanaugh and Barrett trio There's no doubt about who was in control of a court that continues to move the law in a conservative direction though not as much as some justices want. Chief Justice John Robertswas in the majority on nearly every decision, followed closely by JusticesBrett KavanaughandAmy Coney Barrett. On the decisions that divided the court, they sometimes sided with the three other conservatives including when they ruled that lower courts likely went too far when they blocked Trump's changes to birthright citizenship. The six conservatives were also united against the three liberals when theybacked banson gender affirming care for minors,age verification requirementsfor pornographic websites, states' efforts todefund Planned Parenthood, and parents' desire toremove their child from classwhen books with LGBTQ+ characters are being read. But at times Roberts, Kavanaugh and Barrett joined with the court's liberals – and against Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch. Those decisions included rejections ofconservative challenges to Obamacareand to afederal subsidy programfor internet and phone services for poor and rural communities that is funded by user fees. Don't like the Supreme Court's rulings?Chief Justice John Roberts has thoughts Religious groups Religious groupscontinued their recent winning streak at the high court though with an exception. On the biggest of the three cases brought by religious groups – the Oklahoma Catholic Church's bid to create the nation's first religious charter school – the courtdeadlocked4-4. But that's because Barrettrecused herselffrom the case, and the issue is expected to come back to the court with different participants that don't have ties to Barrett. The court has already teed upanother religion-based casefor the fall, whether prison officials can be sued for violating the religious rights of a Rastafarian inmatewhose dreadlocks were forcibly shavedby Louisiana prison guards. TikTok The court in Januaryunanimously uphelda law intended to effectively ban TikTok in the United States. So why is TikTok and its tens of millions of users a winner? Because Trump hasrepeatedly declined to enforce the law, saying he's working on an alternate solution to the national security concerns. More:Trump wins again. Conservatives like Amy Coney Barrett again. Supreme Court takeaways 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals The appeals court that is arguably the most conservative in the country did not fare wellagain. The justices agreed to hear more appeals from the Louisiana-based 5thU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals than from any other circuit and reversed more of its decisions, according todata compiled by SCOTUSblog. The times they did so included in rulingsupholdingthe Biden administration's regulation of untraceable "ghost guns, the Food and Drug Administration's rejection offruit- and candy-flavored vaping products, and Obamacare'srequirementthat insurers have to cover cancer screenings and other preventive care services recommended by a task force. Environmental regulations The court continued a years-long trend of narrowing federal protections for the environment, includingtaking awaya tool the Environmental Protection Agency used to control water pollution. The court alsolet federal agencies scale backtheir environmental reviews of projects in a case involving construction of a railway in Utah. And the court said fuel producerscan challengeCalifornia's standards for vehicle emissions and electric cars under a federal air pollution law. LGBTQ+ rights Five years afterrulingthat transgender people, as well as gay and lesbian people, are protected by a landmark civil rights law barring sex discrimination in the workplace, the courtupheldTennessee's ban on gender affirming care for minors, The ideologically divided court said the ban does not discriminate against transgender people because the restrictions turn on age and the purpose of the medical treatment, not whether the patient is transgender. In a different case, the courtsaidparents with religious objections to books with LGBTQ+ characters must be allowed to remove their children from class when those books are being used. And in an emergency order, the courtallowed Trumpto enforce his ban on transgender people serving in the military while that policy is being challenged. Days after adjourning for the summer, the court announced it'staking upnext term states' bans on transgender athletes joining female sports teams. Gun regulations While the courtsaid"ghost guns" can be subject to background checks and other requirements, itrejectedMexico's attempt to hold U.S. gunmakers liable for violence caused byMexican drug cartelsarmed with their weapons. But gun violence prevention groups were relieved that, in siding with the gunmakers, the court didn't give the gun industry the broad immunity it sought. The groups are hopeful they can continue to hold gun makers accountable if they break the law. Parental rights While the courtruled againstthe Tennessee parents who want to get gender affirming care for their children, the justicesbackedparental rights in the case about LGBTQ+ storybooks. And the court's decisionupholdingTexas' age verification law for pornographic websites may have been foreshadowed during oral arguments whenBarrett saidshe knows from her experience as a parent of seven children how difficult it is to keep up with the content blocking devices that those challenging Texas' law offered as a better alternative. Disability rights The courtsided with a Minnesota teentrying to use the Americans with Disabilities Act to sue her school for not accommodating her rare form of epilepsy that makes it difficult to attend class before noon. That decision will make it easier for families to use the ADA to sue schools for damages over the lack of an accommodation for a learning disability. But the courtsided against a retired firefighterwho argued the ADA protects retirees as well as those able to work. The justices said the firefighter, who left the force due to Parkinson's disease, could not sue her former employer for reducing health care benefits for disabled retirees. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:The winners (and losers) from major Supreme Court decisions
Trump wasn't the only Supreme Court winner this year. Here's the scorecard. WASHINGTON −President Donald Trumpcelebrated what he cal...
