Updated June 24, 2022 Civil Rights
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing
Supreme Court: Three Justices in Four Years — Fundamental Rights Overturned
Trump's three appointments fundamentally altered the Supreme Court's ideological composition. The Gorsuch seat had been held open for nearly a year through Senate Majority Leader McConnell's refusal to consider Obama nominee Merrick Garland. Barrett was confirmed October 26, 2020 — eight days before the election, after Republicans had cited 'the Garland rule' (refusing election-year nominations) in 2016. The conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, eliminating federal abortion rights recognized for 49 years. The same term saw rollbacks of administrative agency authority (West Virginia v. EPA) and expansion of Second Amendment rights (Bruen).