Momentous Term for Supreme Court

In what many believe to be the most momentous term in decades, the Supreme Court delivered a multitude of wins for originalism. This term's historic decisions should come with a great sense of pride for Justice Clarence Thomas. After years of fighting an uphill battle, Justice Thomas finally has enough support from other Justices on the Court to be in the majority. 

Josh Blackman, a prominent constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, commented on this terms decisions:

What a momentous term!... Dobbs overruled Roe. Carson completes the trilogy that began with Trinity Lutheran and Espinoza. Kennedy finally interred Lemon, and more importantly, eliminated the Lemon defense. Bruen finally decided the issues left unresolved in Heller and McDonald. Torres v. DPS may represent a new schism on the Court with sovereign immunity. And West Virginia may be the first step (or at least half a step) to a reinvigoration of the non-delegation doctrine. 

Paul Clement, former U.S. Solicitor General and prominent constitutional law attorney who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court since 2000, also praised the recent work of the Court:

“[The Justices are] joined at the hip in terms of really trying to restore things to first principles, text, history and tradition.”

In an editorial titled "A Historically Great Term" from the National Review, the authors noted

This year, for the first time in memory, the Supreme Court concluded a term in which it consistently did its job... The Court started and ended by telling the administrative state that it cannot simply write laws just because Congress has failed to do so.

The Court's rulings were a resounding win for Conservatives, but the sweeping opinions upholding the rule of law sent Leftists into a frenzy.

Sam Baker, a reporter for Axios, stressed how the changes will affect federal agencies:

The federal government is going to be able to do a lot less than it has been able to do in the past... One way or another, federal agencies exerting broad-based powers are already losing — and are almost certainly going to keep losing.

While the Left is worried about the federal government losing power, Senator Mitch McConnell praised the latest decisions of the Supreme Court for how they "gave power back to the people." 

The editorial board at the Wall Street Journal concurred, stating:

This Supreme Court term yielded victories for libertarians and cultural conservatives under the principle of originalism. The separation of powers is as crucial to protecting religious freedom as it is to protecting property rights or limiting regulation without Congressional commands. This is a Court for the Constitution, and that means the right and left will have to win their policy victories the old-fashioned way—democratically.

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For an in-depth analysis of this term's major decisions, join RNLA this Friday for the annual SCOTUS Round-Up webinar featuring Professor Josh Blackman and John Malcolm, Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation.