ZWF: Here's what the Supreme Court has been up to
Zander's Weekend Facts #73: Sunday, July 2, 2023
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, a list of some of the cases the Supreme Court recently ruled on, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast! Episode 109 features a breakdown of everything you need to know regarding the second indictment of former President Donald Trump. Plus, Zander takes a look at how abortion laws have changed across the country in the year since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Go download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, July 2, 2023:
The biggest Supreme Court cases of the year
The Supreme Court just wrapped up its annual term, releasing decisions in the 60 cases it heard from back in the months from October through April.
You’ve most likely heard about the notable cases from the term, but there are others whose decisions could also have some major effects and are important to know about.
Here are some of the notable cases that were just decided over the last two months:
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (6-3)
Majority (303): Gorsuch, Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Kavanaugh, Thomas
Dissenting (Elenis): Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor
The court ruled that the state of Colorado cannot force a Christian website designer to design a wedding website for same-sex couples as it would violate their First Amendment right to free speech.
Allen v. Milligan (5-4)
Majority (Milligan): Roberts, Jackson, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Sotomayor
Dissenting (Allen): Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Thomas
The court ruled that Alabama’s congressional district map adopted for the 2022 congressional elections violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the votes of the state’s black residents, who make up 27% of the population.
Arizona v. Navajo Nation (5-4)
Majority: Kavanaugh, Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Thomas
Dissenting: Gorsuch, Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor
The court ruled that the 1868 treaty establishing the Navajo Reservation did not require the United States to assist in securing water for the Navajo Nation.
Biden v. Nebraska (6-3)
Majority (Nebraska): Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas
Dissenting (Biden): Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor
The court ruled that President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $400 billion in student loans overstepped the authority of the executive branch. The court ruled that under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, the Secretary of Education does have the authority to establish a student loan forgiveness program.
Groff v. DeJoy (9-0)
Majority (Groff): Alito, Roberts, Barrett, Gorsuch, Jackson, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Sotomayor, Thomas
Dissenting (DeJoy): None
The court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to not deny meeting religious requests because it would amount to a “trivial” burden. The court ruled that employers should accept religious accommodations from employees unless doing so would bring “substantial increased costs.”
Moore v. Harper (6-3)
Majority (Harper): Roberts, Barrett, Jackson, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Sotomayor
Dissenting (Moore): Alito, Gorsuch, Thomas
The court ruled that the federal elections clause does not place the sole authority of implementing rules regarding federal elections on state legislatures, allowing courts to review congressional districting plans.
Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (9-0)
Majority (Sackett): Alito, Roberts, Barrett, Gorsuch, Jackson, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Sotomayor, Thomas
Dissenting (EPA): None
The court ruled that wetlands that are entirely separate from traditional bodies of water such as lakes and rivers do not qualify as protected under the Clean Water Act.
Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (6-3)
Majority (Students): Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas
Dissenting (Harvard): Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor
The court ruled that Harvard College’s admissions program violated the equal protection clause, which bars racial discrimination by government entities. The decision effectively ends the use of affirmative action in college admissions programs.
Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (6-2)
Majority (Students): Roberts, Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas
Dissenting (North Carolina): Kagan, Sotomayor
Recused: Jackson
The court ruled that the University of North Carolina’s admissions program violated the equal protection clause, which bars racial discrimination by government entities. The decision effectively ends the use of affirmative action in college admissions programs.
United States v. Texas (8-1)
Majority (United States): Kavanaugh, Roberts, Barrett, Gorsuch, Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor, Thomas
Dissenting (Texas): Alito
The court ruled that the states of Louisiana and Texas lacked the legal right to challenge the Biden administration’s policy to prioritize the arrest and deportation of certain groups of unauthorized immigrants.
For a full list of the cases heard before the court, here’s a list from SCOTUSblog
What Zander’s been reading
Pretty soon, you could be eating chicken that didn’t actually come from a slaughtered animal. Two California-based companies just got full approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell lab-grown chicken meat.
Check out this week’s featured article at CBS News - Lab-grown chicken meat gets green light from federal regulators - (Apple News link)
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Broadband Internet Funding: The Biden administration announced on Monday that over $42 billion will be given to states to expand access to high-speed internet. The funding comes from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed Congress in 2021. All 50 states will receive funding, which is expected to allow the entire country to have access to reliable broadband by 2030. Exact figures for each state can be found in an interactive graphic at the Washington Post article link below.
Supreme Court Guns Case: The Supreme Court announced that it will take up a case involving second amendment rights in the court’s next term. The case focuses on whether individuals accused of domestic assault have the right to own a firearm. The case is brought by Zackey Rahimi, a drug dealer from Texas whose partner obtained a restraining order after accusing him of assault in February 2020. The Supreme Court just finished the release of its decisions from the previous term this past week. The court’s next term is expected to begin in October.
France Protests: Protests have engulfed cities across France, resulting in over 2,000 arrests over the last few days. On Tuesday morning, 17-year-old Nahel M, who was of Algerian descent, was shot and killed by police after driving off during a police traffic check. The incident occurred in Nanterre, a suburb to the west of Paris. The officer who fired the shot has been charged with voluntary homicide. While protests have broken out across the country, the city of Marseille has experienced the most chaos. Videos circulating online have shown police using tear gas against protesters in the city that sits on the country’s south coast.
Malaria Cases: Five cases of malaria were reported in the United States this past week. Four cases were reported in Florida, while another was reported in Texas. The disease was previously a serious health issue in the U.S., but annual cases were brought down to around 2,000 in the early 1950s after the CDC had been established to fight the disease. In the decades since, epidemiologists believe those who have contracted the disease did so outside U.S. borders. However, investigations have found that the five new cases did not originate from international travel. An estimated 600,000 people die from the disease around the world each year.
Actors Union Negotiations: The Screen Actors Guild and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are currently negotiating a new deal to avoid a strike. SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP agreed to extend their current contract to July 12 in order to continue negotiations. 98% of SAG-AFTRA members voted last month to authorize a strike if the guild cannot agree to a new deal with Hollywood studios. Back in May, the Writers Guild of America went on strike after failing to reach a deal with the AMPTP. If the actors join the writers on strike, it would be the first two-union strike in Hollywood in over six decades.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NBA Free Agency: One of the busiest times of the NBA offseason, the free agency period, began on Friday. Several of the most notable names, including the Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, have agreed to new deals with their current teams. Many players have found new homes in the last few days as well, with Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet joining the Houston Rockets and Gabe Vincent signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. Two stars are also seeking trades to new teams, with Damian Lillard attempting to leave the Portland Trail Blazers and James Harden seeking a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Concacaf Gold Cup: The final matches of the group stage in the Concacaf Gold Cup get underway later today. At 7:00 pm et, the U.S. will face Trinidad and Tobago on Fox, while Jamaica takes on St. Kitts and Nevis on FS1 in the final games in Group A. At 9:00 pm et, Group B wraps up with Mexico facing Qatar on FS1 and Honduras taking on Haiti on FS2. At least a draw sends the U.S. to the quarterfinals, with the U.S. and Jamaica currently tied with four points at the top of the group. Mexico has already secured play in the knockouts, with Haiti at three points and Qatar and Honduras with one point each. Groups C and D play their final games on Tuesday, with Panama having already advanced out of Group C. Guadalopue and Guatemala currently lead Group D with four points each.
MLB Perfect Game: New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán threw the 24th perfect game in MLB history on Wednesday night. Germán threw 99 pitches and struck out nine batters in the Yankees’ 11-0 win over the Oakland Athletics in Oakland. It was the fourth time a Yankees pitcher has thrown a perfect game, the most of any franchise, joining David Cone, Don Larson, and David Wells. Germán, who has played for the Yankees since 2017, is the first pitcher from the Dominican Republic to throw a perfect game. The Yankees are currently third in the AL East at 45-37 with the All-Star break approaching.
ESPN Layoffs: Several notable ESPN on-camera personalities were laid off from the company this past week. Among those not remaining at ESPN are lead NBA commentator Jeff Van Gundy, NFL host Suzy Kolber, and NBA analyst Jalen Rose. Host Max Kellerman, radio host and NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson, and NFL analyst Steve Young were also let go by the network. The cuts came from parent company Disney’s mandate to cut costs, with hundreds of off-camera employees having lost their jobs earlier this year.
Big 12 Conference: The Big 12 Conference expanded its membership from 10 schools to 14 on Saturday. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF became members of the conference officially on July 1, leaving the American Athletic Conference (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF) and West Coast Conference (BYU). Next summer, the conference’s membership will drop to 12 with Oklahoma and Texas leaving to join the SEC. In other conference realignment news, San Diego State has told the Mountain West Conference it is not planning to leave after submitting a letter of resignation to the conference earlier in June.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
Check out the Zander’s Facts Linktree page for more on everything Zander’s Facts related, including the all-new Zander’s Facts website. At ZandersFacts.com, get the latest on all the facts that Zander is putting out, and check out the freshest styles at the Zander’s Facts shop!
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.substack.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, July 9, 2023.
