The Supreme Court started their 2025 term on October 5. This term, the Court is set to hear a number of consequential cases involving voting rights, the limits of Presidential power, free speech, and more. Here is a roundup of a few of the cases before the Court.
1. Louisiana v. Callais (Voting Rights)
One of the marquee issues this term is whether the Court will roll back or reframe Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits electoral maps that dilute minority voting strength.
The case centers on Louisiana’s post-2020 census redistricting: the state legislature initially drew only one majority-Black congressional district. A court later ordered a second majority-Black district to be created, but that map was challenged by white voters as unconstitutional.
The state now asks the Court whether creating additional majority-minority districts under Section 2 might itself violate the Constitution (e.g., equal protection).
A ruling that constrains Section 2 could have ripple effects in many states, altering the balance of power in congressional and local districting.
2. Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (Tariffs / Executive Power)
Another high-profile case involves challenges to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The narrow but critical issue is whether the president has the statutory and constitutional authority to impose such sweeping tariffs under IEEPA, and the degree to which courts should defer to executive interpretations in this realm.
Because the schedule is accelerated, the Court’s ruling may come relatively quickly and set a precedent on executive economic authority.
If the Court sides with the administration, it could expand the president’s leverage in trade and foreign-policy domains; if it limits executive power, it may impose new legal constraints on tariff actions.
3. Chiles v. Salazar (“Conversion Therapy” & Free Speech)
This case tests the boundaries between state bans on conversion therapy and First Amendment protections.
The case centers around a Colorado law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals from offering counseling to minors aimed at changing or suppressing their sexual orientation or gender identity. The challenger argues this is speech and thus protected under the First Amendment.
If the Court strikes down or limits these bans, it may force several states to reconsider or repeal their existing conversion therapy prohibition laws.
Because conversion therapy bans are framed as protecting vulnerable youth, the decision will test how the Court balances the regulation of professional counseling versus free speech.
4. Wolford v. Lopez (Second Amendment)
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to Hawaii’s 2023 law that restricts handgun carry on private property (unless property owners explicitly permit it) as well as certain public settings.
Depending on how broadly the Court frames the question, the decision could affect other states’ concealed- and open-carry laws around the country.
Given the Court’s trajectory in gun rights decisions, observers will closely watch whether it further expands or confines Second Amendment protections.
5. Trump v. Cook (Independent Agencies)
On the administrative law front, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the removal of a sitting Federal Reserve Board governor, Lisa Cook.
The case implicates whether the president can fire a governor of an independent, multi-member body like the Fed, which traditionally has protections against at-will removal. A decision here could weaken the structural protections of independent agencies and shift the balance of power toward the executive branch.
If the president is permitted more direct control over independent agencies, it could reshape administrative governance across many regulatory domains.
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