Closing summary
The supreme court handed down three rulings on Friday, with further rulings expected on Monday. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The court overturned one of its own most important precedents, the Chevron doctrine, delivering a major blow to the regulatory powers of federal agencies. Voting as a block, the six rightwing justices threw out the court’s own 1984 opinion in Chevron USA Inc v Natural Resources Defense Council, which has required the courts to defer to the knowledge of government experts in their reasonable interpretation of ambiguous laws.
The court narrowed the statute that prosecutors have relied in the cases of hundreds of rioters who took part in the January 6 Capitol attack for obstruction of an official proceeding. The 6-3 ruling could have profound implications for participants on that day in 2021, and could also affect the federal criminal case against Donald Trump, who is charged with similar offences in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the assault.
The court ruled 6-3 that cities in the US west can criminalize unhoused people sleeping outside even when they lack access to shelter. The ruling is a victory for Grants Pass, Oregon, which in 2019 passed ordinances prohibiting sleeping and camping in its public parks and on its streets, banning unhoused people from “using a blanket, pillow, or cardboard box for protection from the elements”.
The court will issue the final opinions of its terms on Monday, including Donald Trump’s claim of absolute immunity. The justices have yet to issue rulings in four cases that were argued during the term, including Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss.
Earlier this week, the court ruled to allow emergency abortions in Idaho, for now. It rejected Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement plan, stripped the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of a major tool in fighting securities fraud, and put a hold on an attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce harmful air pollution that drifts across state lines.
The lawyer for Joseph Fischer, a former Pennsylvania police officer who is accused of storming the Capitol on January 6, has responded to the court’s ruling.
“On behalf of Mr Fischer, our team is ecstatic,” Jeffrey Green said in a statement reported by CNN. He added:
The various opinions offer a particularly clear window into different statutory interpretation modalities among the Justices on today’s Court.
Green said he would be watching the ruling’s effect on other prosecutions but said “we are happy to have driven this criminal statute back to its proper evidence tampering turf.”
