Supreme Court Opens Term with Threats to Civil Rights, Climate Justice, and Democratic Protections

The U.S. Supreme Court began its October term with a docket packed with cases that threaten hard-won civil rights, environmental justice, and democratic safeguards. The Court, now dominated by a conservative supermajority, is set to decide disputes over religious liberty, gun regulations, immigration policy, and the ever-shifting balance between state and federal power—often to the detriment of marginalized communities. Among the most consequential is Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, where Colorado seeks to hold Big Oil accountable for climate destruction under state tort law. Predictably, oil giants argue that the federal Clean Air Act should shield them from state-level accountability, a move that would let polluters off the hook nationwide.

"If Colorado actually succeeds on its nuisance claims and others against these companies, the upshot would not just be these companies changing what they do in a way to protect Colorado or remedy Colorado, but rather it would affect their operations far outside of the state," said Adam White, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The Court’s willingness to even consider whether federal law should bar Colorado’s lawsuit signals a dangerous trend of corporate interests trumping local communities’ rights to seek justice.

Another alarming case, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, attacks voting rights by defending an Arizona law that erects new barriers to voter registration and enables purges of non-citizen voters dangerously close to elections. This is a clear attempt to suppress turnout, particularly among communities of color, under the guise of preventing so-called voter fraud. The case will test whether the 1993 National Voter Registration Act can withstand this assault on democracy.

The term also features religious-freedom litigation, including St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, where Colorado’s efforts to enforce basic nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ children and families are under threat. The Catholic school’s exclusion from a state-funded preschool program, due to its anti-LGBTQ+ policies, is being challenged by religious conservatives who want taxpayer dollars to fund discrimination.

"They don't agree with the state on things like allowing children to use the opposite-sex bathroom if they identify with the opposite sex. So this is something the Supreme Court has been very favorable to religious organizations of and for not allowing states to just cut them out of otherwise generally applicable state benefit programs," said Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network.

Meanwhile, gun-rights cases from Illinois and Connecticut threaten to further erode sensible firearm regulations. The Court will decide whether popular weapons of war like the AR-15 are protected by the Second Amendment, potentially unleashing even more deadly weapons onto American streets.

"What the court said it's going to look at is whether these are weapons that are in common use and have lawful purposes, and so this is the court's opportunity to look at things like the popular AR-15 type rifle and decide if it qualifies as something in common use and therefore is protected by the Second Amendment," Severino added.

The Court will also revisit the Trump administration’s cruel immigration policies, considering whether federal law allows the deportation of undocumented immigrants to countries not listed in removal orders—yet another attack on vulnerable communities.

In total, the Court has agreed to hear more than two dozen cases this term, with the potential for even more filings. The stakes for civil rights, democracy, and climate justice could not be higher.