The U.S. Supreme Court is not the branch of government tasked with making laws and policy. But in maybe its most consequential term in decades, it had an arguably more impactful policy session than Congress, with decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade, expand the rights of gun owners, and curtail the Biden administration’s power to combat climate change.
This term “showed just how much the 6-3 conservative majority will influence and reshape those areas of policy and law,” said Todd Ruger, editor of immigration and legal affairs at CQ and Roll Call, at a recent FiscalNote event. “This one was momentous, not just because of the issues that were decided, which were huge, but how they were decided and what they could mean for the future.”
The ramifications for government relations and advocacy professionals who traditionally looked to influence policy through educating legislators are vast and far-reaching.
A major case decided by the Supreme Court this term was a victory for gun rights advocates who challenged New York’s concealed carry permitting law, which made it a crime to carry a concealed firearm without a license. New York also required administrative interviews and that a person prove the need to carry a concealed firearm. The Supreme Court found those restrictions unconstitutional in this ruling.
“This also was the opportunity that they took to state that there was a right to carry a firearm for self-defense outside of the home, which was the first time that they’ve done that,” Macagnone said.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for the case and used a method of looking at gun regulation that he said keeps with the history and tradition of the country, “accepting only those gun restrictions that had a longstanding history, going back to the colonial era,” Macagnone explained.
This ruling has many potential implications for future gun regulations. One issue that could arise is whether there are particular places that can actively prohibit carrying firearms, such as churches or public transportation. The court discussed this in its oral argument but didn’t reach a decision this term. Another future issue to watch in gun regulation regards the acceptable limits of the state’s regulation of the right to bear arms.
Based on the information above about the Bruen case and the information that you have acquired this semester, please explain in a one-page memo whether, in your opinion, courts play an increasingly marginal or persistently significant role in American politics and why (or why not).
https://fiscalnote.com/webinars/on-demand-the-new-policymakers-scotus#entry:61119@1:url
