How the Supreme Court ruled in the major decisions of 2022
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate the nationwide right to abortion dominated one of the court’s most consequential terms. The emboldened 6-3 conservative majority, with three nominees of President Donald Trump, wasted little time expanding the rights of gun owners to carry firearms in public, strengthening the role of religion in public life and sharply curtailing the Biden administration’s power to combat climate change.
How frequently each justice was
in the majority compared to
the previous term
Current term
2020-2021 term
CONSERVATIVE BLOC
95%
Roberts
95
Kavanaugh
90
Barrett
85
Alito
80
Thomas
75
Gorsuch
LIBERAL BLOC
69
Kagan
68
Breyer
58
Sotomayor
How frequently each justice was in the majority compared to
the previous term
Current term
2020-2021 term
CONSERVATIVE BLOC
Roberts
95%
95
Kavanaugh
Barrett
90
Alito
85
80
Thomas
Gorsuch
75
LIBERAL BLOC
Kagan
69
Breyer
68
Sotomayor
58
The unprecedented leak of a draft majority opinion to overturn Roe in May rocked a court already grappling with highly controversial cases and facing intense public pressure. Protesters demonstrate at the justices’ homes, while the courthouse is closed to the public and surrounded by a high security fence. A California man was charged with planning to kill Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is seeking to interview the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas.
Abortion
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The justices voted 6 to 3 to uphold a restrictive Mississippi abortion law. In the most consequential part of the ruling, John G. Roberts Jr. did not join the majority opinion to eliminate the fundamental right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe. The outcome was telegraphed in the leaked draft but the final ruling immediately reshaped the political landscape and cleared the way for states to ban or severely limit abortion access.
Second amendment
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
In the first major Second Amendment ruling in more than a decade, the court said that law-abiding Americans have a right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense. The majority opinion, authored by Thomas, struck down a long-standing New York law requiring a special need to carry a weapon and put at risk similar laws in Maryland, California, New Jersey, Hawaii and Massachusetts.
Climate change
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The court rolled back the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to reduce the carbon output of existing power plans in a blow to the Biden administration’s plans for combating climate change. The decision risks putting the United States even further off track from the president’s goal of running the nation’s power grid on clean energy by 2035.
Immigration
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The Biden administration has the authority to reverse a Trump-era policy that requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are reviewed in U.S. courts, the majority said. Roberts and Kavanaugh joined the court’s three liberal justices in saying that federal immigration law gives the executive discretion.
Covid and vaccine mandates
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The court blocked the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement for the nation’s largest employers, a blow to the president’s signature initiative for curbing the coronavirus and boosting the country’s vaccination rate. The court was generally supportive of state pandemic initiatives, but said the federal government lacked the power to impose sweeping requirements on workplaces throughout the country.
Biden v. Missouri
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
In a separate case, the court allowed a different policy to go forward requiring covid vaccinations for most health-care workers at facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds. Federal law, the court said, gives the health and human services secretary responsibility for protecting the safety of patients and controlling the spread of infectious diseases.
Separation of church and state
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The court’s conservative majority invalidated a Maine tuition program, ruling that the state cannot bar religious schools from receiving public grants extended to other private schools. Roberts, writing for the majority, said the tuition program “promotes stricter separation of church and state” than the constitution requires.
School prayer
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The court sided with a former high school football coach who was fired after leading postgame prayers on the 50-yard line. Neil M. Gorsuch, writing for the conservative majority, said the coach’s prayers at the public school event were protected by the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and religious exercise and did not violate the prohibition on government endorsement of religion.
Guantánamo Bay and state secrets
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The court held that the “state secrets” doctrine prevents a Guantánamo Bay detainee from questioning two former CIA contractors about the abusive treatment he received at a “black site” facility in Poland. Stephen G. Breyer, writing for a splintered court, said the fact that many details about the detention and treatment of Abu Zubaida are public does not mean the government must be forced to disclose them.
Death penalty and religion
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
A death row inmate is entitled to have his pastor touch him and pray aloud at the time of his execution, the court ruled. Roberts said the inmate’s religious rights were protected by federal law and that state officials should be able to accommodate his requests for the “laying of hands” by his pastor without interfering with the lethal injection process.
Public displays of religion
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
In a unanimous decision, the court said it was unconstitutional for the city of Boston to deny a ceremonial city hall flag-raising request from a Christian group when it had never turned down any other organization. The court rejected the city’s argument that its flag-raising program on a plaza outside Boston City Hall was a form of government speech and said the rejection of the Christian flag violated the First Amendment protection of free speech.
Indian law
Liberal bloc
Sotomayor
Breyer
Kagan
conservative bloc
Roberts
Kavanaugh
Barrett
Gorsuch
Alito
Thomas
The majority sided with Oklahoma, saying state officials have the power to prosecute non-Indians for crimes against Native Americans within a tribal reservation. The decision, criticized by tribal leaders, limits the reach of a 2020 ruling that reclassified about 40 percent of Oklahoma, including the city of Tulsa, as Indian land and shifted some criminal prosecutions to tribal and federal courts.