A long-awaited sight at the Supreme Court this morning with people standing in line to hear oral arguments for the first time since the pandemic started in 2020.
Another welcomed sight – no more metal barricades. The court erected them in May after the leaking of the Dobbs draft opinion, as part of ramped-up security measures.
At a conference last month, Chief Justice John Roberts admitted those two measures made for an unusual and difficult year.
“It was gut-wrenching every morning to drive into the Supreme Court with the barricades around it,” he said at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Perhaps even more concerning are polls showing the public is losing trust in the court. Last month a Gallup poll found just 40 percent of U.S. adults approve of the court, tying a record low.
Roberts addressed those concerns saying it’s always appropriate to critique the court’s opinions, although he called out those questioning its legitimacy.
“I don’t understand the connection between the opinions that people disagree with and the legitimacy of the court,” he said. “If the court doesn’t maintain its legitimate function of interpreting the Constitution I’m not sure who would.”
Today Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson took the bench for the first time along with the other justices to hear oral arguments. The court now has four women justices for the first time in its history.
Its docket is loaded with high-profile cases for the term, including ones on race, elections, and religious liberty.
A Colorado wedding website designer is fighting her state’s anti-discrimination law which prevents her from refusing to work on gay weddings.
Another case pits Yeshiva University, an orthodox Jewish school, against a group of gay students wanting to form a campus club.
The court also faces a piece of unfinished business – the leak of the draft opinion of the Dobbs abortion case. Justice Roberts has ordered an investigation but there’s been no update.
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