U.S. Supreme Court
By Nikki Merritt
State Senator, District 9
GRAYSON, Ga. | As many of you have no doubt heard, the Supreme Court has handed down several consequential rulings recently that will impact how we live, vote, learn, and do business in this country.
Merritt
While I was pleasantly surprised in some cases, many of the opinions released will be incredibly harmful to the fabric of our society. I will not discuss all of the decisions in depth, but wanted to highlight some of the rulings that I am concerned will be particularly impactful for our community, here in Georgia.
Affirmative Action – Struck Down: The Supreme Court has struck down affirmative action in the college admissions process, stating that colleges cannot consider the race of a student applying in an effort to balance admissions to ensure equity. This is an incredibly disappointing ruling, overturning decades of progress achieved through this system.
Black and brown Americans have historically had a harder time attending university, because of financial constraints and a system that favors higher-income, historically white students. This will emphasize the importance of supporting HBCUs, which have been the backbone of higher education for minority students for decades.
Student Loan Forgiveness – Struck Down: Today we had a major blow to President Biden’s attempt to shore up middle-and low-income Americans’ savings by canceling a limited amount of student debt. The Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Education does not have the right to compromise, waive, or release the right to collect student debt. The fact is that the planned debt cancellation would have greatly impacted low-income individuals, women of color, and single mothers.
Religious Discrimination – Upheld: In a lawsuit from Colorado, the court upheld the First Amendment right of an artist to deny services to same-sex couples on religious grounds. The implications of this particular lawsuit are troubling, opening the door for rampant discrimination based on a person’s beliefs.
This ruling could allow businesses to discriminate against almost anyone based on their right to free speech, including people of color, other regions, interracial couples, and many other categories of at-risk individuals. While I strongly support First Amendment rights, conflating free speech with the right to discrimination is a dangerous decision that will lead to further marginalization of minority communities.
Federal Redistricting and Elections – Upheld: The Supreme Court upheld the right of state courts to set regulations around redistricting by state legislatures and ensure a system of checks and balances to prevent overt gerrymandering. This ruling will help preserve the democratic system, and ensure that hyper-partisan legislatures don’t redraw districts to dilute the voting power of opposing parties. The fact that there was even a question on how the Supreme Court would rule in this situation is deeply concerning. Further, the opinion specifically notes that state courts have limits to their authority, which could open the door in the future for another challenge to our democratic norms.
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