Viewpoint 1: Court earns a ‘B’ for sticking to the Constitution
By GianCarlo Canaparo
The Supreme Court has wrapped up its 2020 term – and what a term it was. The court handed down major cases involving religious liberty, the freedom of association, property rights, election law and the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), among others.
Most of the cases didn’t make headlines. My comments here focus on the high-profile cases because they are the ones most people are familiar with. In my judgment, this was a good, but not great, Supreme Court term. If I gave the court a letter grade, I’d give it a B.
On the First Amendment (religious liberty, speech, freedom of association), the court gets decent marks. Although it initially permitted state and local governments to restrict religious liberty because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it quickly corrected course after Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court and stood up for the proposition that our fundamental rights do not disappear during an emergency. This is cause for celebration because, in the past, the court has often failed to do so.