On this day in 2015, the court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
At the Court
On Thursday, the court released its opinions in four cases: Mullin v. Doe, Wolford v. Lopez, Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, and Monsanto v. Durnell.
- In Mullin v. Doe, the court held, by a vote of 6-3, that the Temporary Protected Status program bars courts from reviewing the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determinations on TPS designations. The decision means that the Trump administration can end removal protections for Syrian and Haitian nationals. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, and Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
- In Wolford, the court held, also by a 6-3 vote, that Hawaii’s law prohibiting licensed concealed-carry permit holders from carrying handguns on private property open to the public without the property owner’s express authorization violates the Second and 14th Amendments. Alito wrote the majority opinion, and Kagan and Jackson wrote dissenting opinions. Jackson’s dissent was joined by Sotomayor.
- In Al Otro Lado, the court held, again by a vote of 6-3, that asylum seekers do not “arrive[] in the United States” for the purposes of being permitted to apply for asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act until they physically cross the border in the U.S. Alito wrote the majority opinion, and Sotomayor wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Kagan and Jackson. Jackson also wrote a dissenting opinion.
- In Monsanto, the court held, by a vote of 7-2, that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act expressly preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim because the claim would require Monsanto to add a cancer warning to its Roundup products’ label that the EPA does not require. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, and Jackson wrote a dissent, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch.
After Thursday’s opinion announcements, the justices met in a private conference to discuss cases and vote on petitions for review. The court will release orders from that conference on Monday at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
Later on Thursday, the court denied a request for a stay of execution from Dusty Ray Spencer, who was sentenced to death for murdering his wife, Karen Spencer. Hours later, he was executed in Florida.
The court has indicated that it will next release opinions on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT. We will be live blogging that morning beginning at 9:30. There is expected to be at least one more opinion announcement day after Monday.
Morning Reads
White House calls immigration decisions a ‘tremendous win’
Aileen Graef, CNN
In a statement, “[t]he White House called the two immigration decisions handed down by the Supreme Court Thursday a ‘tremendous win’ for the Trump administration,” according to CNN. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the Temporary Protected Status program “was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency” and that President Donald Trump “is committed to ‘restoring integrity to our immigration system,’” including by ending “‘egregious abuses to our asylum system.’”
Almost 7 in 10 say Supreme Court should keep birthright citizenship in place: Survey
Max Rego, The Hill
As the Supreme Court considers a challenge to President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, a new Quinnipiac University poll found that “69 percent of 1,165 self-identified registered voters believe the Supreme Court” should rule for the challengers and “keep birthright citizenship in place,” according to The Hill. “Ninety-five percent of Democrats and 69 percent of independents” held that view, while “a little over half of Republicans surveyed said the high court should side with the Trump administration.” The court’s birthright citizenship ruling could come as soon as Monday.
The Forgotten Founder
Anastasia Boden, The Dispatch
For The Dispatch, Anastasia Boden, who is a columnist for SCOTUSblog, reviewed a new book about “the unsungest of the unsung heroes” – James Wilson, “who helped design the architecture of American government” and then went on to serve on the Supreme Court, where he became “the first and only justice to be imprisoned while on the bench.” She praised the book – The Lost Founder by Jesse Wegman – for recovering this significant historical figure “from obscurity,” noting that “even many lawyers have little idea who” Wilson is. Wilson was “one of the clearest expositors of the radical American idea that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed,” wrote Boden. “In an era when many Americans feel increasingly disconnected from their institutions, Wilson is a Founder worth remembering.”
The Ascension of Westside Mothers
Steve Vladeck, One First (paywalled)
In a post for his Substack, Steve Vladeck reflected on, among other things, the court’s Tuesday ruling in Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, describing it as “a massively important holding with constitutional dimensions – one that reflects the culmination of a long-term conservative legal project to weaken” Congress’ powers under the spending clause. In Landor, he wrote, the majority endorsed a “previously fringe” idea “that statutes that Congress enacts under the Spending Clause are somehow of lesser force and status – and impose fewer obligations – than the laws it enacts under its other enumerated regulatory powers.” “The decision will bear not only on the ability of individuals to vindicate the federal rights Congress has conferred but on the capacity of Congress itself to provide for enforcement of the Spending Clause statutes it enacts going forward,” including in such areas as Medicaid, education, and nursing home regulations, Vladeck contended.
On Site
Opinion Analysis
Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii gun restriction
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii law that makes it a crime for gun owners to bring their guns onto private property that is open to the public unless they have the property owner’s specific consent. By a vote of 6-3, the justices agreed with a group of Maui residents with concealed-carry permits that the law violates the Second Amendment.
Opinion Analysis
Court allows Trump administration to end removal protections for Syrian and Haitian nationals
On Thursday, the court cleared the way for the federal government to remove protections for citizens of Haiti and Syria under the Temporary Protected Status program, which allows foreign citizens to stay in the U.S. when the government believes it is not safe for them to return to their home. By a vote of 6-3, the justices paused lower-court rulings that barred the Trump administration from ending the TPS designations.
Opinion Analysis
Justices side with Trump administration in border dispute over asylum seekers
In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the court upheld the federal government’s policy of systematically turning back asylum seekers before they can reach the U.S.-Mexico border. By a vote of 6-3, the justices agreed with the Trump administration that the policy does not violate a federal law that permits noncitizens to apply for asylum when they “arrive[] in the United States,” because they don’t “arrive” until they cross the border.
Opinion Analysis
Court rules for Roundup maker in dispute over cancer warnings on pesticide labels
The court on Thursday sided with Monsanto in a high-stakes dispute over cancer warnings on pesticide labels. In an opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court ruled, by a vote of 7-2, that state lawsuits aimed at holding the company liable for failing to warn consumers about the potential risks of Roundup exposure are barred by the federal law governing pesticide sales.
View from the Court
An unusual retort to a dissent from the bench
In his View from the Court column, Mark Walsh described what unfolded as the justices announced Thursday’s opinions. Of particular note was Justice Samuel Alito’s rare response to Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s 10-minute delivery of her oral dissent in Al Otro Lado. “There is much that I would have added to my bench statement had I known there would be a dissent read,” Alito said.
Relist Watch
Penultimate relists: papers, parents, and procedural puzzles
In his Relist Watch column, John Elwood examined six petitions for review that were considered by the justices for a second time during their private conference on Thursday, including three on Arizona voting laws, one on attorney’s fees, one on parents’ involvement in their children’s gender identity and transitioning, and one on access to a certificate of appealability in a habeas case.
A Closer Look
Coverage of Wolford v. Lopez
As noted above, the Supreme Court held in Wolford v. Lopez that a Hawaii gun law addressing private property that is open to the public violated the Second Amendment. The law in question was sometimes referred to as a “vampire rule,” because it required concealed-carry permit holders to receive express permission from property owners before entering with a gun. Although most media outlets, including SCOTUSblog, went with “strikes down” to describe what the court did to Hawaii’s law, its nickname created some interesting headline possibilities, as evidenced below.
The New York Times: Supreme Court Overturns Hawaii Gun Law
The Washington Post: Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii limits on carrying guns in public
Associated Press: Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii law requiring permission to carry guns in stores and hotels
USA Today: Supreme Court strikes down gun limits for stores, other public places
NBC News: Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii’s ‘vampire rule’ for gun owners
NPR: Supreme Court bars ‘vampire rules’ on gun ownership
Fox News: Supreme Court strikes down blue state’s ‘vampire rule’ in major win for gun rights
National Review: Supreme Court Drives a Stake Through Hawaii’s ‘Vampire Rule’
Washington Examiner: Supreme Court strikes down sweeping Hawaii gun law 6-3
Vox: The Supreme Court’s embarrassing new Second Amendment decision, explained
SCOTUS Quotes
“The Second Amendment has the same meaning in all parts of the United States. It cannot give way to ‘the spirit of Aloha’ in Hawaii, any more than it can yield to the spirit of the Big Apple … or the Windy City.”
— Justice Samuel Alito in Wolford v. Lopez (2026)
“Today’s decision makes one thing clear: The Court’s objective is protecting guns, not consistently preserving any principle of law.”
— Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting in Wolford
