Will the Conservative Momentum at the Supreme Court Continue This Term?

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Chronicles Magazine

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 BY JOSH HAMMER

The U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing cases for its new term, following its customary summer recess, on Monday, Oct. 3. If this Court term is anything like the most recent one, conservatives and constitutionalists will rejoice. This most recent term, conservatives achieved secured massive wins on abortion (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization), gun rights (New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. Inc. v. Bruen), and religious liberty (Carson v. Makin and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District), and another key win on rolling back the administrative state (West Virginia v. EPA). 

 Now, with such grotesque precedents as Roe v. Wade and Lemon v. Kurtzman properly overturned,

will the Court continue to move rightward? Put another way, was the 2021-2022 Supreme Court term a mere blip on the radar, or the beginning of a broader, meaningful conservative legal restoration? While it is unclear, and there are fewer “culture war”-centric cases on the docket this term than there were last term, there is still reason for cautious optimism in some of the marquee impending cases.

 The biggest cases before the Court this term, perhaps by far, are the two cases pertaining to noxious race-conscious affirmative action admissions policies at universities: