Supreme Court 2024 Term

The Supreme Court 2024 Term had 10 undecided cases as of June 23, 2025, plus 4 major emergency applications by Trump 2.0 (the second Trump Administration) on its docket. The most notable aspect of this Term was some particulary conservative opinions by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who had been criticized by some in MAGA for being too liberal as a Trump appointee.

The top ten decisions of this Term were:

• Trump v. CASA (birthright citizenship, decided 6-3 on only procedure to end nationwide injunctions and require class certification instead; chaos is predicted by liberals about this ruling)
• U.S. v. Skrmetti (upholding, 6-3, ban on transgender operations on children)
• Mahmoud v. Taylor (6-3 decision by Justice Alito establishing parental rights against LGBTQ indoctrination in public schools, by requiring prior notice and right to opt out)
• Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (allowing, 6-3, states to terminate Medicaid dollars flowing to the abortion provider Planned Parenthood)
• Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (6-3 decision by Justice Thomas upholding, under the intermediate scrutiny standard of review, a Texas law requiring age verification by pornography websites)
• ObamaCare "free" mandates imposed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on businesses upheld, 6-3 (Thomas/Alito/Gorsuch dissenting), in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management
• Diamond Alt. Energy, LLC v. EPA, No. 24-7, 2025 U.S. LEXIS 2383 (June 20, 2025) - broadening legal standing to include those affected by regulations (energy companies in this case)
• FCC v. Consumers' Rsch., Nos. 24-354, 24-422, 2025 U.S. LEXIS 2498, at *45 (June 27, 2025) (upholding the Universal Service Fund for rural internet connectivity because "When Congress amended the Communications Act in 1996, it provided the Commission with clear guidance on how to promote universal service using carrier contributions. Congress laid out the “general policy” to be achieved, the “principle[s]” and standards the FCC must use in pursuing that policy, and the “boundaries” the FCC may not cross. J. W. Hampton, 276 U. S., at 409; American Power & Light, 329 U. S., at 105. Our precedents do not require more. Nor do they prevent the Commission, in carrying out Congress’s policy, from obtaining the Administrator’s assistance in projecting revenues and expenses, so that carriers pay the needed amount. For nearly three decades, the work of Congress and the Commission in establishing universal-service programs has led to a more fully connected country. And it has done so while leaving fully intact the separation of powers integral to our Constitution.") (6-3 decision, Thomas/Alito/Gorsuch in dissent; Court ducked the issue of non-delegation doctrine).
• Dept. of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., a 6-3 decision staying an injunction in Massachusetts against deporting migrants back to South Sudan. Subsequently the Trump Administration has requested relief against the district court for continuing to block these deportations.
• Louisiana v. Callais, a race-based challenge to redistricting, was punted by the Court for reargument in the next Term. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times, a longtime and savvy writer about the Supreme Court, suggested on July 2, 2025 that the Court may be holding this case over to raise the questio of whether there is a private right to sue under the Voting Rights Act (VRA), and to hold that there is not. A ruling against a private remedy under the VRA would have the effect of shutting down liberal lawsuits that invoke the Voting Rights Act to challenge redistricting and conservative election-related laws.

Chronology

Five of the 10 cases not decided until the end of the Term -- the most contentious of the 2024-2025 sitting of the Supreme Court -- were:

• concerning the rights of parents as to objectionable instruction in public school.
• an appeal of a Fifth Circuit ruling that the ObamaCare Task Force is unconstitutional in imposing mandates for "free" coverage
• Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton re: Texas trying to limit access to only adults to obscenity on the internet
• South Carolina's termination of Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider
• an immigration-related case

In addition, there were 4 not-yet-decided (as of June 23) major cases on the shadow docket:

1. Birthright citizenship case
2. Deporting migrants to Sudan case
3. Federal workforce reduction case 1 (large-scale cuts and agency reorganization)
4. Federal workforce reduction case 2 (Department of Education)

See also

• Ballotpedia summary of the 2024-25 Term
• Britannica's analysis of top cases in the 2024 Term
• SCOTUS list of cases for the 2024 Term