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US Supreme Court Tag

There are at least two cases in which we may get rulings soon from the U.S. Supreme Court on issues of religious liberty in the age of lockdown. Both cases allege that religious groups are being treated more harshly than secular businesses and groups. This type of disparate treatment has been at issue in many lower court cases, but now cases from California and Illinois have emergency motions for injunctive relief submitted to the Supreme Court, with responses due May 28.

A lot has been said in a short period of time about the Supreme Court’s opinion handed down in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. City of New York just a week ago.  Most gun rights supporters are frustrated. Many accuse Chief Justice Roberts of caving to pressure.  Some consider the case to be a complete loss.  In reality, it is just the opposite.

The lower federal courts repeatedly have had their orders and injunctions against Trump administration programs halted by the Supreme Court. In the travel cases, multiple stays were issued and when the case finally reached the Supreme Court on the merits, Trump won. This is not a matter of pro-Trump bias, but of out-of-control lower courts, particularly at the District Court level, where judges have overstepped their bounds to substitute judicial preferences for those of the executive branch in which the constitution vests matters related to entry into the country, among other things.

Monday, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing the Trump administration's "public charge" rule to proceed, pending further appeals. The rule issued by the Department of Homeland Security would make it more difficult for immigrants to obtain immigration benefits if they are likely to use public assistance. The decision was 5-4 and split neatly down party lines.