WASHINGTON (AP) β The group photo of the Supreme Court's nine members is a long-standing ritual. But it has never looked quite like the one taken on Friday.
The new image includes Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black female justice, who joined the court in June. With her addition, the court marks a number of firsts. It's the first time white men don't hold a majority on the court and the first time four women have served together. It's also the first time the court has had two Black justices.
Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands as she and members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group portrait following her addition, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.Β
Jackson participated in her first arguments this week because the justices began their summer break when she joined the court.
Friday's formal photo captured by news photographers is sometimes called the group's "class photo." In it, the justices are positioned in front of a red curtain, similar to their courtroom's red drapes. Five of the justices are seated in their black robes with Chief Justice John Roberts in the center. The four remaining justices stand behind them. The justices sit in order of seniority with the longest-serving justice, Justice Clarence Thomas, sitting on Roberts' right. Jackson is standing at the far right.
Because no cameras are allowed in the courtroom when the justices hear arguments, the class photo is one of the few times the group is photographed together. The justices also were photographed together at Jackson's ceremonial investiture last week. A new class photo generally won't be taken until another justice joins the court.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land.Β And its rulings have shaped the United States for over two centuries.Β Some recent decisions have put a spotlight on the high court.Β Here is how it functions.
9 cases the Supreme Court will hear this term
Affirmative action
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AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
In cases from Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, the court could end any consideration of race in college admissions. If this seems familiar, it's because the high court has been asked repeatedly over the past 20 years to end affirmative action in higher education. In previous cases from Michigan and Texas, the court reaffirmed the validity of considering college applicants' race among many factors. But this court is more conservative than those were.
Voting rights
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VOTING RIGHTS
The court could further reduce protections for minority voters in its third major consideration in 10 years of the landmark Voting Rights Act, which was enacted to combat enduring racial discrimination in voting. The case the justices are hearing involves Alabama, where just one of the state's seven congressional districts has a Black majority. That's even though 27% of the state's residents are Black. A three-judge panel that included two appointees of President Donald Trump agreed that the state should have to create a second district with a Black majority, but the Supreme Court stopped any changes and said it would hear the case. A ruling for the state could wipe away all but the most obvious cases of intentional discrimination on the basis of race.
About the photo: Khadidah Stone stands on the dividing line between her old Alabama congressional District 7, to her right with River City Church, and her new district, District 2, to her left, in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. The line splits Montgomery between two congressional districts and is the subject of a high-stakes case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Elections
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ELECTIONS
Republicans are asking the justices to embrace a novel legal concept that would limit state courts' oversight of elections for Congress. North Carolina's top court threw out the state's congressional map that gave Republicans a lopsided advantage in a closely divided state and eventually came up with a map that basically evenly divided the state's 14 congressional districts between Democrats and Republicans. The state GOP argues that state courts have no role to play in congressional elections, including redistricting, because the U.S. Constitution gives that power to state legislatures alone. Four conservative justices have expressed varying levels of openness to the βindependent state legislatureβ theory.
Clean water
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CLEAN WATER
This is yet another case in which the court is being asked to discard an earlier ruling and loosen the regulation of property under the nation's chief law to combat water pollution. The case involves an Idaho couple who won an earlier high court round in their bid to build a house on property near a lake without getting a permit under the Clean Water Act. The outcome could change the rules for millions of acres of property that contain wetlands.
Immigration
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IMMIGRATION
The Biden administration is back at the Supreme Court to argue for a change in immigration policy from the Trump administration. It's is appealing a ruling against a Biden policy prioritizing deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. Last term, the justices by a 5-4 vote paved the way for the administration to end the Trump policy that required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for their court hearing. In July, also by a 5-4 vote, the high court refused to allow the administration to implement policy guidance for deportations. A Trump-era policy favored deporting people in the country illegally regardless of criminal history or community ties.
About the photo: An immigrant considered a threat to public safety and national security waits to be processed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the ICE Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, after an early morning raid, June 6, 2022.
LGBTQ rights
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LGBTQ RIGHTS
A new clash involving religion, free speech and the rights of LGBTQ people will also be before the justices. The case involves Colorado graphic and website designer Lorie Smith who wants to expand her business and offer wedding website services. She says her Christian beliefs would lead her to decline any request from a same-sex couple to design a wedding website, however, and that puts her in conflict with a Colorado anti-discrimination law.
The case is a new chance for the justices to confront issues the court skirted five years ago in a case about a baker objected to making cakes for same-sex weddings. The court has grown more conservative since that time.
Native American adoption
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NATIVE AMERICAN ADOPTION
In November, the court will review a federal law that gives Native Americans preference in adoptions of Native children. The case presents the most significant legal challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act since its 1978 passage. The law has long been championed by Native American leaders as a means of preserving their families and culture. A federal appeals court in April upheld the law and Congressβ authority to enact it. But the judges also found some of the lawβs provisions unconstitutional, including preferences for placing Native American children with Native adoptive families and in Native foster homes.
Bacon law backlash
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BACON LAW BACKLASH
Also on the menu for the justices: a California animal rights law. The case stems from a 2018 ballot measure where California voters barred the sale of pork in the state if the pig it came from or the pig's mother was raised in confined conditions preventing them from laying down or turning around. Two agricultural associations challenging the law say almost no farms satisfy those conditions. They say the βmassive costs of complyingβ with the law will βfall almost exclusively on out-of-state farmersβ and that the costs will be passed on to consumers nationwide.
Art world
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ART WORLD
The court's resolution of a dispute involving pieces by artist Andy Warhol could have big consequences in the art world and beyond. If the Warhol side loses a copyright dispute involving an image Warhol made of the musician Prince, other artworks could be in peril, lawyers say. But the other side says if Warhol wins, it would be a license for other artists to blatantly copy.
About the photo: Pop artist Andy Warhol smiles in New York in this 1976 photo.
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The 9 current justices of the US Supreme Court
Chief Justice John Roberts
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Chief Justice John Roberts
Nominated to serve as chief justice by President George W. Bush
Took seat Sept. 29, 2005
Born Jan. 27, 1955, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Justice Clarence Thomas
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Associate Justice Clarence Thomas
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President George H.W. Bush
Took seat Oct. 23, 1991
Born June 23, 1948, near Savannah, Georgia
Justice Samuel Alito
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Associate Justice Samuel Alito
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President George W. Bush
Took seat Jan. 31, 2006
Born April 1, 1950, in Trenton, New Jersey
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
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Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Barack Obama
Took seat Aug. 8, 2009
Born June 25, 1954, in Bronx, New York
Justice Elena Kagan
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Associate Justice Elena Kagan
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Barack Obama
Took seat Aug. 7, 2010
Born April 28, 1960, in New York City
Justice Neil Gorsuch
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Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Donald Trump
Took seat April 10, 2017
Born Aug. 29, 1967, in Denver, Colorado
Justice Brett Kavanaugh
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Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Donald Trump
Took seat Oct. 6, 2018
Born Feb. 12, 1965, in Washington D.C.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett
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Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Donald Trump
Took seat Oct. 27, 2020
Born January 28, 1972
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
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Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Joe Biden
Took seat June 30, 2022
Born September 14, 1970
