SYMPOSIUM

Returning regulation to the states, and predictable harms to health

This article is part of a symposium on the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Nicole Huberfeld is Edward R. Utley professor of health law at Boston University School of Public Health and professor of law at Boston University School of Law.

“[T]he Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives.” With this holding, the Dobbs majority deepened state-by-state health inequities by upending a 50-year understanding that the 14th Amendment protects a right to privacy that includes access to abortion, among other intimate decisions. Already, Dobbs has produced legal instability and increased the risk of avoidable harms to both individual and public health.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Thursday, June 30

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles, commentary, and other noteworthy links related to the Supreme Court. To suggest a piece for us to consider, email us at roundup@scotusblog.com.

Here’s the Thursday morning read:

• Ketanji Brown Jackson to join a Supreme Court in turmoil (Ariane de Vogue, CNN)
• Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a lot to celebrate (Jessica Gresko, Associated Press)
• Is the Supreme Court Facing a Legitimacy Crisis? (Spencer Bokat-Lindell, The New York Times)
• When the Supreme Court Makes a Mistake (Peter Canellos, Politico)
• Supreme Court limits historic McGirt ruling (Kolby KickingWoman, Indian Country Today)
  

OPINION ANALYSIS

Divided court allows veteran to sue state-agency employer for violating his federal rights

In Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety, a five-justice majority on Wednesday allowed a military veteran’s lawsuit against his former state-agency employer to go forward, rejecting the state’s argument that it was shielded by sovereign immunity.

Le Roy Torres was working as a Texas state trooper when he was called to active duty in the U.S. Army Reserves. He served in Iraq and was honorably discharged, but his lungs were damaged by the burn pits that the military used to dispose of toxic waste. On his return, his injuries made him unable to perform all the duties of a state trooper, and he requested to be assigned to a comparable job in the Department of Public Safety. The department allegedly refused to accommodate him.

SCOTUS NEWS

Jackson will be sworn in on Thursday as Breyer steps down

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn in as the newest Supreme Court justice at noon on Thursday, June 30. She will become the first Black woman ever to serve on the court.

Jackson will replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced Wednesday in a letter to President Joe Biden that he will make his retirement official and step down on Thursday. The 83-year-old Breyer announced in January that he would retire when the Supreme Court begins its summer recess. With the court poised to issue its final two decisions on Thursday at 10 a.m., Breyer wrote, his retirement “will be effective on Thursday, June 30, 2022, at noon.”

In a month in which Breyer dissented in several blockbuster cases – overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, expanding the scope of the Second Amendment, and upholding an increased role for religion in public life — he added that it had been his “great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law.”

RELIST WATCH

The (likely) last grants of October Term 2021

This article was updated on June 29 at 4:20 p.m.

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court is holding its impromptu mop-up conference, during which the justices meet for the last time before the summer recess. They are considering 63 petitions (most of them cases that have been held for recent merits cases) and one motion. The court will be looking especially closely at 10 of them, which are the newly relisted cases.