Supreme Court leaves major conservative cases waiting in the wings, from abortion to guns – By John Fritze (USA Today) / Apr 11 2021
Rather than handing conservatives a string of wins, the Supreme Court has left advocates on the right grasping for answers about high-profile cases.
WASHINGTON – When Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett took her seat on the Supreme Court in October, Democrats openly fretted about a lopsided conservative court unwinding years of precedent on abortion, gun control and other divisive issues.
But rather than handing conservatives a string of victories, the justices have – so far – left advocates on the right grasping for answers about why a number of pending challenges dealing with some of the nation’s biggest controversies have languished.
From an abortion case out of Mississippi to a scorching dispute between Texas and California pitting religious freedom against gay rights, the justices are sitting on several contentious issues that will now wait until this fall – at the earliest – to get a hearing, assuming the court takes the cases at all.
“There’s always a reason to kick the can down the road,” lamented Josh Blackman, a law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. “These issues linger and fester if they don’t come to any sort of resolution. That’s sort of where we are.”
