The 2023-2024 U.S. Supreme Court term will feature cases on several issues of interest to state and territorial governments, including federal authority and administrative law, redistricting, free speech and social media, firearm restrictions in domestic violence cases, amongst others.
As of December 12, the Court has agreed to hear at least 45 cases; 29 of which have already been heard or are currently scheduled for argument. Currently, most cases originate from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (9 cases) and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (7 cases). Four cases originate from state and district courts. The Court is expected to accept additional cases for the term, with decisions to be issued by the end of June 2024.
Key issues for states from the term include the following:
- Executive Power/Administrative Law. The Court will hear several administrative law cases, reviewing the scope of government regulation and authority. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Court will consider whether to overrule the Chevron doctrine, which promotes court deference to actions by the executive branch. The decision will have implications for citizens challenging administrative agencies in courts. The Chevron doctrine will also be considered in Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. Here, the Court will decide whether statutory silence concerning powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute constitutes an ambiguity requiring deference to the agency. In Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, the Court will determine whether the SEC’s power to adjudicate securities fraud claims violates the Seventh Amendment or the nondelegation doctrine. The decision will impact the use of in-house tribunals. In Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, the Court will decide whether the funding scheme for the CFPB, which receives funding directly from the Federal Reserve instead of being funded through annual appropriations by Congress, violates the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution.
- Voting and Redistricting. In Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the Court will decide whether the South Carolina legislature’s redistricting map constituted an impermissible racial gerrymander—even if the legislators’ purported intent was a political gerrymander—and whether the lower court erred in striking the map down as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
- Social Media and Public Officials. The Court will hear several cases involving the First Amendment and social media, with some of particular interest to public officials. In O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed, the Court will determine when a public official blocking an individual on the official’s personal social media account constitutes state action.
- Firearm Restrictions in Domestic Violence Cases. In United States v. Rahimi, the Court will decide the constitutionality of a federal law that bars anyone subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm.
- Opioid Bankruptcy. In Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, the Court will weigh in on a bankruptcy settlement involving Purdue Pharma that would give billions of dollars to those harmed by the opioid epidemic but shield members of the Sackler family, which once owned the company, from opioid-related civil claims.
NGA holds monthly briefings for Governors’ legal counsel. Please reach out to Lauren Dedon (Ldedon@nga.org) for additional information.
