Affirmative action: May a state university give a preference to qualified black and Latino applicants, or does such a “race conscious” admissions policy violate the equal-protection right of a white applicant?
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The high court is also expected to take another crack at an affirmative action case they sent back to an appeals court two years ago.
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, left, Stephen Breyer, center, and Clarence Thomas, leave St. Mathews Cathedral, after the Red Mass in Washington on Sunday, October 4, 2015.
The Supreme Court also will hear two voting rights cases brought by conservatives challenging how electoral districts are drawn in Texas and Arizona.
A few teachers object to the decades-old practice of allowing public-sector unions to collect fees, as long as this money does not get spent on political activities, from workers who do not want union representation. His four more conservative colleagues reject the use of race by schools and public agencies. This fall, the justices are due to decide whether to hear a challenge to a Republican-backed Texas law restricting abortion access that abortion providers contend is aimed more at shutting clinics than protecting women’s health. In 2013, the state passed a law that required doctors who perform abortions to have privileges at a nearby hospital and set stricter standards for abortion clinics.
Dozens of religious colleges and Catholic nonprofit groups refuse to cooperate in any way with the Obama administration’s regulation that says female employees must be offered birth control drugs at no cost as part of their health insurance.
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In any year, both of these cases would inspire political scrutiny, but with a presidential election underway, you can probably expect even more voices speaking up than usual.
