SCOTUS End-of-Term Opinions Today: Blog Post Coming This Afternoon

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Good morning! This morning the Supreme Court will hand down opinions in some or all of the merits cases remaining on this docket from the OT 2025 Term. We await rulings in:

Trump v. Barbara (birthright citizenship). I blogged about the case here and here. Prof Krishnamurthi blogged about it here. I also hosted a guest post on the case from Profs Scott Titshaw and Stephen Yale-Loehr. And I wrote a Verdict column about the policy stakes.

Trump v. Slaughter (independent agencies). I blogged about this case before and again after the oral argument.

Trump v. Cook (pretextual firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook). I addressed some of the issues at stake back in August of last year. I took a deep dive into whether the Fed is really distinguishable from other independent agencies just before the oral argument.

Little v. Hecox and W. Va. v. B.P.J. (transgender athletes). I filed a brief (as co-counsel and as an amicus party) in support of the trans athletes in these cases. I previewed the issues on the blog and then wrote up some reactions after the oral argument. In a Verdict column, I explained why the government's main argument amounts to trans erasure.

Chartrie v. U.S. (4th Amendment implications of cell-phone location data). I discussed the case and the underlying stakes before the oral argument.

Watson v. RNC (mail-in ballot timing).

National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC (First Amendment challenge to coordinated party expenditures).

I'll take some time to read whatever opinions come down this morning and then try to write up some thoughts for a blog post later today, with likely additional posts coming as the week progresses. I will not be surprised if the Court adds tomorrow and possibly even Wednesday as further hand-down days. If it does so, I would expect it to save Trump v. Barbara and Trump v. Cook for the last day of the Term, especially if the rulings go against President Trump. By doing so, the Court will be able to project an end-of-Term image of non-partisanship despite the many Trump victories and rightward shifting of the Overton window from the Term as a whole. In addition, because Trump can't stomach losing anything, getting out of town right after handing him a couple of defeats would be a prudent move for the Justices.

-- Michael C. Dorf