The Supreme Court. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The Supreme Court’s new term begins Oct. 7 with a handful of important cases set to be heard and the possibility that the justices will be asked to get involved in election disputes.
Here are some of the top cases that will be argued in the coming months:
Transgender rights
The Biden administration and families of transgender minors in Tennessee are challenging a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Roughly half the states have enacted similar restrictions.
Ghost guns
The administration is appealing a federal appeals court ruling striking down a regulation aimed at reducing the proliferation of hard-to-trace ghost guns, which lack serial numbers.
Death penalty
Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general has joined with death row inmate Richard Glossip in calling for the high court to throw out Glossip’s conviction and death sentence in a 1977 murder-for-hire scheme.
Pornography
The adult entertainment industry is challenging a provision of Texas law, upheld by a federal appeals court, mandating that pornographic websites verify the age of their users.
Mexico’s gun lawsuit
Leading U.S. gun manufacturers want the Supreme Court to overturn an appellate ruling keeping alive a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico against over allegations that the companies’ practices are responsible for violence in Mexico.
Nuclear waste
The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions wants the court to restore licenses it issued for temporary nuclear waste storage facilities in rural New Mexico and Texas after a federal appeals court invalidated them.
Job discrimination
A woman in Ohio is asking the court to revive her workplace discrimination lawsuit in which she claims she unfairly lost out on state jobs to LGBTQ people, in violation of federal law.
Flavored vapes
The Food and Drug Administration is asking the justices to overturn a decision that would allow the marketing of sweet e-cigarette products amid concern about a surge in youth vaping in recent years.
