Andrew Chung is a reporter at Reuters.

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Supreme Court To Decide Access to Abortion Pill in 2024

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 12-13-2023

A sign hangs on a fence outside the upreme Court as protesters react to the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito on May 2, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2022 ended its recognition of a constitutional right to abortion, on Wednesday agreed to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to preserve broad access to the abortion pill, setting up another major ruling on reproductive rights set to come in a presidential election year.

Supreme Court Backs Christian Web Designer With Anti-Gay Marriage Stance

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 06-30-2023

Web designer Lorie Smith, plaintiff in a Supreme Court case who objects to same-sex marriage, poses for a portrait at her office in Littleton, Co., Nov. 28, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

In a blow to LGBTQ+ rights, the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings, ruling in favor of a web designer who cited her Christian beliefs in challenging a Colorado anti-discrimination law.

Supreme Court Rules Against University Affirmative Action Programs

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 06-29-2023

Students attend the 367th Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in a sharp setback to affirmative action policies often used to increase the number of Black, Hispanic, and other underrepresented minority groups on campuses.

SCOTUS Leans Toward Evangelical Designer with Anti-gay Marriage Stance

A protester waves an LGBTQ rights pride flag as activists gather outside the Supreme Court, where justices were set to hear arguments in a major case pitting LGBTQ rights against a claim that the constitutional right to free speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws in a dispute involving an evangelical Christian web designer who refuses to provide her services for same-sex marriages, in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority signaled sympathy on Monday toward an evangelical Christian web designer whose business refuses to provide services for same-sex marriages in a major case pitting LGBTQ rights against a claim that freedom of speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws

U.S. Supreme Court Backs Public Money for Religious Schools

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 06-21-2022

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed more public funding of religious entities in an important ruling in favor of two Christian families who challenged a Maine tuition assistance program that excluded private schools that promote religion.

Ketanji Brown Jackson First Black Woman Confirmed to Supreme Court

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson reacts as she meets with Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in a milestone for the United States and a victory for President Joe Biden, who made good on a campaign promise as he seeks to infuse the federal judiciary with a broader range of backgrounds.

‘Aggressively Conservative’ Supreme Court Embraces Culture War

A general view of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2021. REUTERS/Will Dunham

Scholars say the court’s 6-3 conservative majority has shown an eagerness to impact abortion, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, and more.

SCOTUS Conservatives Seem to Favor Public Money for Religious Schools

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 12-09-2021

Blake Fox, 19, of Washington, listens to a live broadcast of the Supreme Court arguments in Carson v. Makin, a challenge to a Maine tuition assistance program that bars taxpayer money from being used to pay for religious instruction, in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Conservative Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared ready to further expand public funding of religiously based entities, indicating sympathy toward a challenge by two Christian families to a Maine tuition assistance program that excludes private schools that promote religious beliefs.

Supreme Court Divided Over Death Row Inmate’s Religious Request

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 11-10-2021

Storm clouds roll in over the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., September 1, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner.

Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared divided over a bid by a man sentenced to death to have his pastor lay hands on him during his execution in Texas in a case testing how far states must go to accommodate religious requests by condemned inmates.

The justices heard more than 90 minutes of oral arguments in John Henry Ramirezs appeal after Texas officials refused his request to let his Christian pastor touch him and audibly pray as he dies from the lethal injection and lower courts refused to issue a stay of execution.

The court, which has wrestled in recent years over the religious rights of death row inmates, has a 6-3 conservative majority. Some of the conservative justices raised questions about the sincerity of Ramirezs religious request and how siding with him might affect future cases. The courts liberal justices appeared to sympathize with Ramirez, who was not contesting his guilt in the appeal.

Supreme Court Refuses Catholic Hospital Appeal Over Transgender Patient


A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by a Catholic hospital in California to avoid a lawsuit over its refusal to let its facilities be used to perform a hysterectomy on a transgender patient who sought the procedure as a part of gender transition from female to male.

The justices turned away an appeal by Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Sacramento-area hospital owned by Dignity Health, and let stand a lower court ruling that revived Evan Minton’s lawsuit accusing it of intentionally discriminating against him in violation of California law because he is transgender.

The justices on Monday also bolstered a Roman Catholic-led challenge to a New York state requirement that health insurance policies provided by employers cover abortion services. The justices told a lower court to reconsider its decision to throw out a bid by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and other plaintiffs to widen an existing religious exemption to a 2017 state regulation that requires health insurance policies to cover medically necessary abortions.

What You Need to Know About the Supreme Court’s Upcoming Cases

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 10-01-2021

 A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

The Supreme Court’s new nine-month term, which begins on Monday, promises to be among the most momentous in generations. The justices are poised to decide major cases that could roll back abortion rights and broaden gun and religious rights.

Here is a look at some of cases the court will decide during the term, which runs through the end of next June.

Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket’ Favored Religion and Trump

The members of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for a group photo in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS

A Reuters analysis of emergency applications over the past 12 months offers a glimpse into the full range of parties seeking urgent relief from the top U.S. judicial body through the shadow docket. The justices have increasingly relied upon this process to make rulings in a wide array of cases without the normal deliberative process involving public oral arguments and extensive written decisions.

Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Voting Restrictions

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 07-01-2021

General Election Day directional sign saying Vote Here, also translated to Spanish, in El Mirage, Arizona on Nov. 6, 2018. Via Shutterstock / BlaineT

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday endorsed two Republican-backed ballot restrictions in Arizona that a lower court found had disproportionately burdened Black, Latino and Native American voters, handing a defeat to voting rights advocates and Democrats who had challenged the measures.

The 6-3 ruling, with the court's conservative justices in the majority, held that the restrictions on early ballot collection by third parties and where absentee ballots may be cast did not violate the Voting Rights Act, a landmark 1965 federal law that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.

U.S. Supreme Court Allows Muslim Men to Sue Over ‘No-Fly' List Placement

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 12-10-2020

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday let three American Muslim men sue several FBI agents who they accused of placing them on the government's "no-fly list" for refusing to become informants, rejecting a challenge to the lawsuit by President Donald Trump's administration.

SCOTUS Deals Blow to Republicans in Pennsylvania, N.C. Vote-by-Mail Fights

An election worker places mail-in ballots into a voting box at a drive-through drop off location at the Registrar of Voters for San Diego County in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

The  Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt setbacks to Republicans by allowing extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in next Tuesday's election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states pivotal to President Donald Trump's re-election chances.

Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid to Block North Carolina Absentee Ballot Extension

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 10-28-2020

The Supreme Court of the United States is seen in Washington, D.C., Aug. 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request by President Donald Trump's campaign to block North Carolina's extension of the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots in the latest voting case ahead of Tuesday's election.

Abortion, Health Care, George Floyd: What Amy Coney Barrett Said (and Dodged)

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett arrives to continue the second day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via REUTERS

President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett said on Tuesday at her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing she is not hostile to the Obamacare law, as Democrats have suggested, and declined to specify whether she believes landmark rulings legalizing abortion and gay marriage were properly decided.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Dies at Age 87 From Pancreatic Cancer

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivers remarks during a discussion hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., on September 12, 2019. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger.

Ginsburg, who rose from a working class upbringing in New York City's borough of Brooklyn and prevailed over systematic sexism in the legal ranks to become one of America's best-known jurists, provided key votes in landmark rulings securing equal rights for women, expanding gay rights and safeguarding abortion rights.

U.S. Supreme Court Allows Public Money for Religious Schools

by Andrew Chung, Reuters 06-30-2020

Montana resident Kendra Espinoza, a key plaintiff in a major religious rights case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, poses in front of the white marble court building with her daughters Naomi (right) and Sarah (left) in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 19, 2020. REUTERS/Will Dunham/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the separation of church and state in a major ruling on Tuesday by endorsing Montana tax credits that helped pay for students to attend religious schools, a decision paving the way for more public funding of faith-based institutions.

U.S. Supreme Court Bolsters Trump's Power Over Rapid Deportation

The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, D.C. Jan. 21, 2020. REUTERS/Will Dunham

The justices ruled 7-2 in favor of the administration.