Supreme Court's upcoming term tackles climate suits, religious exemptions, gun bans and immigration disputes

The Supreme Court’s term starts Oct. 5 with a docket that includes a Colorado climate case where Boulder County seeks damages from Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil, raising the issue of federal pre-emption of state lawsuits. A Catholic preschool in Colorado will ask the Court to exempt it from a state-funded universal pre-school program on First Amendment grounds. Two gun-rights cases—one from Connecticut and another from Cook County, Illinois—will examine whether recent bans on semiautomatic rifles comply with the historical-tradition test set by the 2022 decision.

The Court will also hear challenges to the Trump administration’s policy of deporting migrants to third countries without adequate notice, and to a rule denying bond hearings to certain non-citizens. Additional arguments involve Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship voting requirement, Washington’s law allowing shelters to withhold parental notification for gender-dysphoria care, and a request to review the military’s transgender ban. Several other Trump-era actions may be taken up in closed-door conferences later in the term.