Supreme Court’s conservative majority to decide direction of law on race, elections and religious freedom this month

As the Supreme Court races to issue all outstanding opinions by a self-imposed early July deadline, there is little doubt that the conservative majority is prepared to continue the right-ward trajectory on areas concerning affirmative action, election law and LGBTQ rights.

The real question is just how far and how fast the 6-3 majority wants to go.

As is the case every term, there have already been some unanimous opinions. And there have been decisions that scrambled usual vote patterns leading to odd bedfellows.

But the cases that most capture the public’s attention have yet to be decided and they are likely to lead to fiery opinions and dissents read from the bench. In addition, they will come down as the court finds itself in the center of a spotlight usually reserved for members of the political branches.

“There is little question that this court will ignore its past precedent and undermine protections for the LGBTQ community, racial minorities and voters,” said Jessica Levinson, who teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “The question is whether the court takes a knife or an assault rifle to those protections.”

The rulings this spring will continue the ultimate realization of former President Donald Trump’s success in adding three appointees to the bench and cementing a conservative majority that could last decades.

But the fact that the votes of Justice Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett have contributed to a hard right turn on the court has led critics to accuse the justices of trading the stability of the law in favor of policy preferences.

Last year, after Trump’s new nominees voted with the majority to overturn some 50-year-old abortion precedent, liberal Justice Elena Kagan launched a warning before an audience in Montana.

“I think people are rightly suspicious if…

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