By: Owen Fugit

Editor-in-Chief

On Oct. 7, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) began its 2024-2025 term, where it will hear cases ranging from gun laws to LGBTQ rights. Even though the new term has just begun, the court has already started making decisions, most notably its decision to not hear a case brought by the Biden administration regarding emergency room abortions in Texas. In essence, this decision to not hear the case upheld the ruling of a smaller circuit appeals court in favor of Texas. While not exactly a headline-making case in its own right, this refusal indicates that this upcoming term will spark controversy. In their term, the court plans to hear nearly 30 cases, with the first case on Oct. 8. In the latest surveys by Gallup, only 43 percent of Americans approve of the court, the lowest approval rating since 2016. The court has seen a sharp uptick in public disapproval based in large part on the lack of ethics and enforcement on members of the court. SCOTUS is the only court in the nation without a binding code of ethics, causing many in the general public to question the judges. In a recent report published by ProPublica, Justice Clarence Thomas was revealed to have received expensive gifts from donors, such as the real estate magnate Harlan Crow. The report highlighted the need for an enforceable code of ethics for the court. More recently, the court published its code of conduct, which falls short of the enforcement goal many hoped for, but all the justices on the court have signed onto this code, signaling their commitment to ethical practices.

The court is already hearing important cases, even in its first week in session. One such case follows up on a case from the court’s previous term. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) classified ghost gun kits as firearms in 2022. A “ghost gun” is a do-it-yourself gun kit that people can buy anonymously. The guns from these kits do not have serial numbers, which means they cannot be traced. More than 300 homicides have been linked to ghost guns since 2017. In that time, the use of ghost guns in crimes has risen more than one thousand percent. To combat this, ATF reclassified ghost guns as firearms, which prompted the kit manufacturers to sue ATF for overstepping its regulatory powers. The lawsuit made its way to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which struck down the regulation. The Biden Administration then appealed to the Supreme Court in 2023, where the court held the ruling until further discussion at the start of their new term. This ruling will have widespread effects on the firearms industry if the court strikes down ATF’s decision and could change the regulation of firearms in the future. The Supreme Court has a long and impactful term cut out for them this year, with many difficult decisions to come. 

(Sources: Brennan Center, CBS, CNBC, Gallup, NBC, Oyez, ProPublica, Reuters, Supreme Court of the United States, NPR)