U. S. Supreme Court takes a right turn | Eastern NC Now

As the U. S. Supreme Court winds down its 2023 term, the important decisions are coming at a faster rate.  This week, as Amy Howe reports on scotusblog.com, the newly minted conservative majority is beginning to make its weight felt.   The Court:

• In a 6-3 decision, the justices rejected the race-conscious admissions policies used by Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, finding that the programs violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. The cases: Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina.
• In a 6-3 opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts the court ruled that the Biden administration’s student-debt forgiveness plan does not comply with federal law. Roberts invoked the “major questions doctrine” to say that Congress did not specifically give the secretary the authority to give borrowers such significant relief. The case is:  Biden v. Nebraska.
• The court handed a major victory to business owners who oppose same-sex marriage for religious reasons on Friday. A six-justice majority agreed that Colorado cannot enforce a state anti-discrimination law against a Christian website designer who does not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples because doing so would violate her First Amendment right to free speech. The case is:  303 Creative LLC v. Elenis