Guns, transgender rights, porn: The Supreme Court begins another term

The U.S. Supreme Court opens a new term this week, with guns, transgender rights, pornography, and lots more on the docket, including potential election cases in the wings.

In the wake of last year’s tumultuous term and the court’s decision giving broad immunity to former President Trump for his actions while in office, the court finds itself stuck on the wrong end of public opinion, a place where, according to the Gallup poll, it has largely been mired since 2021. The partisan gap is gargantuan, and has been since the court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Adding to its woes have been ethics controversies and the kinds of leaks that have previously been unheard of, including one this year about what went on behind the scenes in the immunity case.

"Something does seem broken," says Lisa Blatt, a veteran Supreme Court advocate. "At oral argument, which is when I see them [the justices], they just seem visibly frustrated."

For the most part, the justices still try to portray the court as amicable, but you don’t have to be a genius to see that they are not exactly happy campers.

That said, the work has to get done, and there is already a fair amount of controversy on the justices’ plate. Once again, it’s the social issues that will interest most people, though there are plenty of relatively dry, though important, cases on regulation of everything from the environment to e-cigarettes. The three social issue cases already on the docket involve transgender rights, guns and porn.

The transgender case is a test of laws in 24 states that have banned the use of puberty blockers and other hormone treatments for minors.

"This is obviously the blockbuster case of the term," says Deepak Gupta, a Supreme Court practitioner and lecturer