The Supreme Court has always played a large role in the United States, but its decisions have been even more influential in recent years. Monumental decisions ranging from upholding Obamacare, striking down campaign finance regulations in Citizens United and ruling the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional have dramatically changed the American political landscape. The Court’s unpredictability has resulted in progressive achievements as in the DOMA case and great strides backwards, as in Citizens United. These decisions came down to one man: Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. In the new term, Kennedy holds the attention of progressives as we hope for victories in cases bound to be as significant as those in recent years.
The Suprme Court is split evenly between conservatives and liberals, with one moderate in Kennedy. Judging by Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent interview in New York Magazine, the Court doesn’t seem to be afraid to let personal politics affect decisions. An ideologically divided Supreme Court leaves enormous power at the hands of Kennedy, who could undo decades of American progress should he choose to side with Scalia and the conservatives.
In Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of opening public events like city council meetings with prayer. Residents of Greece, NY filed suit against the town, claiming that prayers led by a “chaplain of the month”, who is almost always a Christian; violate the First Amendment prohibition against government establishment and promotion of religion.
This case could come down to swing Kennedy’s decision to side with either liberals or conservatives, but we already know where the devoutly Catholic conservative Scalia will stand. If Scalia, who professed his belief in the Devil’s guile in his New York Magazine interview, can win over Kennedy, then this case could open the floodgates for blatant promotion of religion by state and local governments across the country.
One of the most controversial and misguided decisions in recent memory is in the infamous case of Citizens United v. FEC. In Citizens United, the Court paved the way for the ultra-wealthy and corporations to spend unlimited amounts on political races through ostensibly independent Super PACs. This decision created the most divided electorate in memory as an unprecedented amount of money was pumped into political advertising. In this term, McCutcheon v. FEC could spell the end for the last regulations left standing after Citizens United. Businessman Shaun McCutcheon is challenging the constitutionality of cumulative contribution limits in a given election cycle. Kennedy will likely side with the conservatives in this case, as he did when he wrote the majority opinion in Citizens United.
If history repeats itself and Kennedy sides with the conservatives in this case, the wealthy will gain an even greater advantage in politics. Unlimited campaign contributions will allow wealthy politicos like the Koch brothers to shape policy at will by generously funding candidates that back their interests. Too often, policies that benefit those like the Kochs come at the expense of the vast majority of America that cannot fund candidates as well as the Kochs can. If, as is likely, the Supreme Court strikes down campaign expenditure limits, citizens like you and I will lose their voices, as America becomes a de facto plutocracy.
Perhaps the most important cases of this term concern reproductive rights. The past few years have seen a tidal wave of Republican-controlled state governments pass the most restrictive abortion laws since abortion became legal under the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The battle over women’s rights came to a head this summer in Texas with Democratic state senator Wendy Davis’ epic filibuster opposing a bill that closed all but a few of the abortion clinics in America’s second-most expansive state.
The first of the cases facing the Court, McCauley v. Coakley, challenges a Massachusetts law that restricts protests around abortion facilities. The Roberts Court is likely to overrule the precedent set in Hill v. Colorado, when the Court upheld a Colorado law similar to the one in Massachusetts. This is admittedly a difficult case to decide, as the justices must weigh the First Amendment rights of the protestors against the rights of patrons of these clinics to not be harassed.
A more clear-cut case is Cline v. Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice. After the Oklahoma Supreme Court makes a clarification, the Court will rule on a law that seeks to restrict women’s access to abortion-inducing drugs. Again, this case seems like it will come down to Justice Kennedy. Liberal Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Ginsburg will most likely oppose this law, while the fire-breathing Scalia will lead the conservative wing to uphold the law. As an Oklahoma native, I can only hope that Kennedy will side with the liberals and not place an undue burden on women seeking an abortion in my home state. A Kennedy coalition with the conservatives on these cases would signify legislation of sexuality and women’s bodies and nullification of decades of progress for women’s rights.
The Supreme Court term starting this month is sure to provide plenty of political intrigue with cases as controversial as those in recent years. Moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy will play an outsize role on the Supreme Court, as he is the sole swing vote on the ideologically divided body. Depending on who Kennedy sides with, America could take great steps towards progress or begin a backslide to a less enlightened time. Kennedy and the Court have the opportunity to make an unprecedented stand for the separation of church and state in a case regarding public prayer. In a case on campaign finance, the Supreme Court can rule that money is not, in fact, speech and maintain campaign donation limits. More likely though, the Supreme Court will rule that rich activists like the Kochs have a right to more speech than perennially broke college students like you and I. Also up in the air are women’s rights to self-determination and their bodies, with cases concerning reproductive rights up before the Suprme Court.
A conservative victory would reinforce patriarchal ideas about sexuality and women’s bodies as well as take away a woman’s right to make a personal choice about her own body. All of these cases come down to one man: Kennedy, and we can only hope that he will act in the interests of a majority of Americans rather than in the favor of wealthy, Christian and conservative men.
