Your world and mine could shift when the Supreme Court makes announcements on their top six case rulings. The nine supreme justices must announce their results three times a week now ? Monday, Thursday, and Friday — until the end of June.
Top Issues
So what is happening? Here are the top six issues that the court must decide:
- Same Sex Marriage
- Obamacare (ACA)
- Lethal Injection
- Clean Air
- Housing Discrimination
Same Sex Marriage
Anticipation! The justices will probably make us wait until their very last day in the end of June to find out if gays and lesbians can marry. Their decision will also consider whether states where these marriages are illegal must recognize them. The prosecutors represent Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Michigan combined into one.
Obamacare
Wow, this is totally up in the air. Obamacare a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. the ACA, may live, or it may die. After congress tried to kill Obamacare over 50 times without any success, its opponents began trying to take it apart. This time they want to take away 6.4 million people’s health care in 34 states. That kicks over half of those who have Obamacare off of the plan. Why? In states that did not accept the federal government’s mega-million dollars, individuals and families could lose their extra money.
Lethal injections
Another case is back on the merry-go-round of the Supreme Court docket. It is about how the death penalty is carried out. Oklahoma and several other states are using a three-drug cocktail, midazolam, in the final injection. They are experimenting with alternative injections because the drugs they used in the past are unavailable now. At issue is the pain and suffering caused by this injection.
Clean Air
Once again the Supreme Court has taken up the president’s environmental regulations. This time coal- and oil-fired power plants’ emission limits are on the chopping block. The president is trying to reduce the mercury and other toxins in the air we breathe. The court will decide whether or not the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) compared the cost to the benefits well enough. Again, we have another close call in Supreme Court votes.
Housing Discrimination
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 is back for the third time. This go-round the prosecutors argue?the ban was simply for planned discrimination. In the past, minorities have won lawsuits on their reading of the law that common actions are unfair.
Political Maps
This is all about fair elections. The court must decide whether or not states have to replace the state congress with fairness committees. Every 10 years congress has drawn its own voting maps. A success would take the politics out of the whole thing.
Stay tuned to find out our future!
H/T: USA Today
