What’s left for the Supreme Court to decide? 21 cases, including state bans on transgender care
Share and Follow


WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court is in the homestretch of a term that has lately been dominated by the Trump administration’s emergency appeals of lower court orders seeking to slow President Donald Trump’s efforts to remake the federal government.

But the justices also have 21 cases to resolve that were argued between December and mid-May, including a push by Republican-led states to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. One of the argued cases was an emergency appeal, the administration’s bid to be allowed to enforce Trump’s executive order denying birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of parents who are in the country illegally.

The court typically aims to finish its work by the end of June.

Here are some of the biggest remaining cases:

Tennessee, 26 other states have enacted bans on treatment for trans youth

The oldest unresolved case, and arguably the term’s biggest, stems from a challenge to Tennessee’s law from transgender minors and their parents who argue that it is unconstitutional sex discrimination aimed at a vulnerable population.

At arguments in December, the court’s conservative majority seemed inclined to uphold the law, voicing skepticism of claims that it violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The post-Civil War provision requires the government to treat similarly situated people the same.

The court is weighing the case amid a range of other federal and state efforts to regulate the lives of transgender people, including which sports competitions they can join and which bathrooms they can use. In April, Trump’s administration sued Maine for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls sports.

Trump also has sought to block federal spending on gender-affirming care for those under 19 and a conservative majority of justices allowed him to move forward with plans to oust transgender people from the U.S. military.

Trump’s birthright citizenship order blocked by lower courts

The court rarely hears arguments over emergency appeals, but it took up the administration’s plea to narrow orders that have prevented the citizenship changes from taking effect anywhere in the U.S.

The issue before the justices is whether to limit the authority of judges to issue nationwide injunctions, which have plagued both Republican and Democratic administrations in the past 10 years.

These nationwide court orders have emerged as an important check on Trump’s efforts and a source of mounting frustration to the Republican president and his allies.

At arguments last month, the court seemed intent on keeping a block on the citizenship restrictions while still looking for a way to scale back nationwide court orders. It was not clear what such a decision might look like, but a majority of the court expressed concerns about what would happen if the administration were allowed, even temporarily, to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally.

Democratic-led states, immigrants and rights groups who sued over Trump’s executive order argued that it would upset the settled understanding of birthright citizenship that has existed for more than 125 years.

Court likely to side with Maryland parents in case over LGBTQ books in schools

Parents in the Montgomery County school system, in suburban Washington, want to be able to pull their children out of lessons that use the storybooks, which the county added to the curriculum to better reflect the district’s diversity.

The school system at one point allowed parents to remove their children from those lessons, but then reversed course because it found the opt-out policy to be disruptive. Sex education is the only area of instruction with an opt-out provision in the county’s schools.

The school district introduced the storybooks in 2022, with such titles as “Prince and Knight” and “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.”

The case is one of several religious rights cases at the court this term. The justices have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years. The decision also comes amid increases in recent years in books being banned from public school and public libraries.

3-year battle over congressional districts in Louisiana

Lower courts have struck down two Louisiana congressional maps since 2022 and the justices are weighing whether to send state lawmakers back to the map-drawing board for a third time.

The case involves the interplay between race and politics in drawing political boundaries in front of a conservative-led court that has been skeptical of considerations of race in public life.

At arguments in March, several of the court’s conservative justices suggested they could vote to throw out the map and make it harder, if not impossible, to bring redistricting lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act.

Before the court now is a map that created a second Black majority congressional district among Louisiana’s six seats in the House of Representatives. The district elected a Black Democrat in 2024.

A three-judge court found that the state relied too heavily on race in drawing the district, rejecting Louisiana’s arguments that politics predominated, specifically the preservation of the seats of influential members of Congress, including Speaker Mike Johnson. The Supreme Court ordered the challenged map to be used last year while the case went on.

Lawmakers only drew that map after civil rights advocates won a court ruling that a map with one Black majority district likely violated the landmark voting rights law.

Justices weigh Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing online porn

Texas is among more than a dozen states with age verification laws. The states argue the laws are necessary as smartphones have made access to online porn, including hardcore obscene material, almost instantaneous.

The question for the court is whether the measure infringes on the constitutional rights of adults as well. The Free Speech Coalition, an adult-entertainment industry trade group, agrees that children shouldn’t be seeing pornography. But it says the Texas law is written too broadly and wrongly affects adults by requiring them to submit personal identifying information online that is vulnerable to hacking or tracking.

The justices appeared open to upholding the law, though they also could return it to a lower court for additional work. Some justices worried the lower court hadn’t applied a strict enough legal standard in determining whether the Texas law and others like that could run afoul of the First Amendment.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like
Federal officials say anti-ICE agitators 'going after the dogs' after Minneapolis kennel incident

Federal Officials Warn of Escalating Anti-ICE Tactics Targeting K9 Units Following Minneapolis Kennel Incident

In a concerning incident in Minneapolis, federal authorities have reported that a…
Jacksonville mother seeks answers one year after daughter drowned following crash

Jacksonville Mother Continues Search for Truth One Year After Daughter’s Tragic Drowning Post-Crash

The family of Jareesha Wilkerson continues to search for clarity about her…
Dramatic Michigan apartment fire rescue seen on helmet cam

Heroic Helmet Cam Footage Captures Dramatic Apartment Fire Rescue in Michigan

Dramatic Michigan apartment fire rescue seen on helmet cam In a dramatic…
Chris Noth reveals what led to fallout with Sarah Jessica Parker

Chris Noth Breaks Silence: The Truth Behind His Rift with Sarah Jessica Parker

Chris Noth became a household name thanks to his role as Mr.…
Border Patrol chief targeted in alleged murder-for-hire plot focused on Snapchat messages

Alleged Murder-for-Hire Scheme Uncovered: Border Patrol Chief Targeted Through Snapchat

A federal jury is currently deliberating a case involving a Chicago man…
Luigi Mangione case: If stalking and assault aren’t ‘crimes of violence,’ death penalty vanishes

Luigi Mangione Case: Legal Definitions of Stalking and Assault Could Impact Death Penalty Eligibility

Luigi Mangione’s legal outcome might be influenced by a procedural nuance, as…
Public hearing on proposed data center at former Lockformer Company site on Ogden Avenue in Lisle postponed due to large crowds

Overwhelming Turnout Delays Lisle Public Hearing on New Ogden Avenue Data Center Proposal

In a surprising turn of events, just after the Naperville City Council…
NYPD detectives mistaken for ICE, treated rudely by hospital staff after scuffle with suspect

Misidentification Chaos: NYPD Detectives Confused for ICE Agents, Face Unexpected Hospital Drama

Last week, a group of New York City detectives experienced an unexpected…