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The US Supreme Court on Monday opens
its 2017 - 2018 session , facing thorny
issues that include gay and labor rights ,
voter restrictions and limits on
gathering private information.
On many of these issues the Republican
administration of President Donald
Trump has taken the exact opposite
position from that of the previous
Democratic administration under
Barack Obama.
Unlike in its last session, when the nine -
justice court operated with a four - four
ideological split with one seat vacant,
Trump can now count on Justice Neil
Gorsuch, a firm conservative vote who
in April took over the position created
by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
From Trump ’ s perspective , the most
significant case would result in a
validation of his decrees limiting
immigration , which have faced repeated
setbacks in lower courts . But after his
administration reworked its decrees ,
the Supreme Court canceled an October
10 hearing on the matter, though it may
return to it later.
“ There is only one prediction that is
entirely safe about the upcoming term ,
and that is it will be momentous , ”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said
recently.
At the age of 84 , “ RBG ,” as she is known,
is the doyenne of the court and a
reliable liberal vote . Democrats fear that
if she retires, the billionaire president
will replace her with another
conservative, tilting the ultimate US
legal body rightward for years.
ACLU vs. Trump
“ For us , this is a ‘ we’ ll see you in the
Supreme Court’ term,” said David Cole,
legal director of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), a leading rights
group.
“ In all five of our cases this term ,
Donald Trump is on the opposite side.
And in three of them , his
administration has broken from
decades of precedent ,” Cole said .
Cole cited a case in the state of Colorado
involving a conservative Christian
baker who opposes homosexuality and
refused to prepare a wedding cake for a
gay couple — the most important case
on gay rights to reach the top court
since gay marriage was legalized in the
United States in June 2015 .
The ACLU is representing the bride and
groom, while the Trump administration
supports the baker , who argues that his
refusal is based in part on his right to
creative freedom .
Another case in which the Trump
administration takes the opposite stance
from that of Obama concerns a voting
case in Ohio , a Midwestern state where
the governing Republican Party wants
to purge the voter rolls of people who do
not regularly vote.
This would mainly affect poor and
minority citizens, groups that
historically vote for Democrats.
In another voting case, justices will hear
arguments for the first time in 12 years
on the way states draw complicated and
creative electoral districts to favor the
party in power , a process known as
“ gerrymandering .”
Smartphone tracking
A separate case aims to set the
parameters on authorities ’ access to
geolocation data for mobile operators .
The case concerns a man sentenced to
prison for theft in the Detroit area.
Police were able to link him to a series
of robberies by following his
movements for 127 days through the
geolocator data from his smartphone.
In a case concerning organized labor ,
the court will look at the compulsory
union dues that civil servants are
sometimes forced to pay. The matter
reached the court last year , but the
justices split four - to - four .
With Gorsuch now on the bench ,
conservatives could win a historic
victory in their decades- long war
against unions. Rulings in these cases
are expected by the end of June 2018 .
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