It’s coincidental, but still remarkable, that the end of each U.S. Supreme Court term happens right on the threshold of the Fourth of July, the nation’s birthday that’s observed as its most unifying and patriotic holiday.
The court’s rulings are meant to provide closure to disputes over law and conflicting claims to rights — always a tall order but all the more so when such deep social and political divisions have cracked open across America.
Ultimately, though, the power to heal those divisions lies where it always has: with the people themselves. The nation’s high court, consequential as its political alignments can be, does not define the nature of the society it inhabits.
There were several contentious rulings but, although the power of the six conservative justices was plainly in evidence, the decisions didn’t uniformly please the Republicans who are generally in their camp.
On elections, the justices found that Alabama must redraw its voting district lines to comply with the Voting Rights Act. This is likely to produce an additional congressional district with a majority Black population. And they ruled against states having the legal standing to challenge the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement policy, in United States v. Texas.
In Moore v. Harper, the court found that state legislatures do not have exclusive authority to set rules on federal elections. That was not what the North Carolina GOP majority wanted, for sure.
However, the decisions that grabbed the biggest headlines for 2022-23 are those that clashed with the classic Democratic issues agenda. Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown decisions put a stop to the president’s student debt-relief program. It was a huge disappointment to millions of college students needing help — and a blow to Biden’s political standing with them.
In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, the court found that works of website design are protected as free speech. Based on the plaintiff’s Christian religion, she could decline to produce a same-sex wedding site.
Much of the attention at week’s end was on the case out of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, filed by the organization Students for Fair Admissions. Colleges, the majority ruled, must base student admissions on their individual merit rather than on race.
Nationally, critics fear that this will make achieving a diverse campus difficult, but that’s a less concerning factor in this state. The state’s multiracial population has ensured that the University of Hawaii has one of the country’s most diverse student populations, despite its “open-door” admissions policy.
But there are recruitment programs seeking to reach students in underrepresented groups, and UH must be sure they pass constitutional muster. This will require more work in outreach and examining student applications, but it’s possible to do so.
Where people might rightly worry is how far the boundaries of these rulings may stretch. For instance, will a future challenge affect the Native Hawaiian preference in admission to Kamehameha Schools? Such uncertainties are part of the legal landscape.
Bottom line, though, is that the court has great influence over where boundaries are set, but that can be countered on a number of fronts — including the legislative and executive branches forging new rules of their own. That process must be driven by an active electorate choosing officials who reflect their views.
Democracy is hard work and a never-ending journey. But the willingness of Americans to take on the job, as fellow citizens, is the nation’s strength, and the essence of what we celebrate today.
