SCOTUSblog: Announcement of opinions for Thursday, June 26

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Thu Jun 26, 2025, 10:06 AM - Edit history (4)

It's June 26, Gay Day at the Supreme Court.

The commentary starts at 9:45 a.m. The opinions start coming out at 10:00 a.m.

Announcement of opinions for Thursday, June 26

By SCOTUSblog
on Jun 26, 2025



On Thursday, June 26, we will be live blogging as the court releases opinions in one or more argued cases from the current term.

Click here for a list of FAQs about opinion announcements.

Recommended Citation: SCOTUSblog , Announcement of opinions for Thursday, June 26, SCOTUSblog (Jun. 26, 2025, 1:50 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/06/announcement-of-opinions-for-thursday-june-26/

Amy Howe
Mod
9:41 AM
Folks in the press room have predicted that there are likely to be multiple opinions.

Tom Walton
9:41 AM

Predictions:

Barrett has already written 6 opinions and is done for this term.
January :
Thomas and Jackson have Hewitt and Free Speech Coalition, although I'm not sure which...
February:
Sotomayer has Gutierrez
March:
The four remaining cases will be written by Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch & Kavanaugh.
April:
Alito and Jackson have Kennedy and Mahmoud, although I'm not sure which.
May:
The Chief has Trump vs CASA and will come down on the last day of the term.

Amy Howe
Mod
10:01 AM
16
Our first decision is from Justice Jackson in Hewitt v. US

Zachary Shemtob
Mod
10:02 AM
2
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1002_1p24.pdf

Amy Howe
Mod
10:02 AM
8
It is not unanimous. The vote appears to be 5-4. Alito dissents, joined by Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.

Canadian SCOTUS watcher replied Zachary Shemtob
10:02 AM
13
The mods seek the comments (which are a whole lot) and pick through them.
Does it take 4 of you to accept?

Dan EppsMod replied Canadian SCOTUS watcher
10:02 AM
26
Does it take 4 of you to accept?
No, just one, so I can go rogue

Aditya replied Amy Howe
10:02 AM
13
It is not unanimous. The vote appears to be 5-4. Alito dissents, joined by Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.
Gorusch joins a "liberal-coded" criminal justice majority opinion again!

CourtWatcher711
10:02 AM
16
That very likely means Thomas has the Paxton case. Which doesn't bode well for the adult entertainment sites.

Amy Howe
Mod
10:03 AM
9
This is the case about the First Step Act, which eliminated a mandatory minimum penalty for certain firearm offenders. It provides that the act applies if a sentence has not yet been imposed as of the date of the enactment.
4
The question before the court was what happens when an offender is sentenced before the enactment of the First Step Act but the sentence was then vacated.

Dan Epps
Mod
10:03 AM
20
Looks like Part IV, which the CJ and Gorsuch don't join, is focused on legislative/enactment history, which conservative justices don't like.

Amy Howe
Mod
10:03 AM
10
The court today holds that a sentence "has not been imposed" for purposes of the provision and the act's more lenient penalties therefore apply.

ScotusBlogWatcher
10:04 AM
49
Jackson Hewitt. Someone has a sense of humor.

David Lat
Mod
10:04 AM
12
Justice Jackson was on the Sentencing Commission, so this is definitely right up her alley.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Justice Gorsuch has the opinion in Medina v. Planned Parenthood.

Amy Howe
Mod
10:08 AM
24
Justice Gorsuch has the opinion in Medina v. Planned Parenthood.

Zachary Shemtob
Mod
10:08 AM
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1275_e2pg.pdf

Amy Howe
Mod
10:08 AM
The vote is 6-3. Jackson dissents, joined by Sotomayor and Kagan.
7
This is the case about whether there is a private right to bring a lawsuit challenging South Carolina's decision to end Planned Parenthood's participation in the state's Medicaid program. (Federal law already generally prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for abortion.)

Amy Howe
Mod
10:11 AM
13
The Fourth Circuit held that Planned Parenthood and an individual patient could bring a lawsuit, and today the court reversed that ruling.

Amy Howe
Mod
10:13 AM
7
Justice Sotomayor has the opinion in Gutierriez v. Saenz. It is 6-3, with Alito dissenting, joined by Thomas and Gorsuch.

Amy Howe
Mod
10:13 AM
8
Barrett has an opinion concurring in part and in the judgment.

Zachary Shemtob
Mod
10:14 AM
3
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-7809_3e04.pdf

Amy Howe
Mod
10:14 AM
9
This is a case about a Texas inmate's efforts to obtain DNA testing of evidence that he says will show he was not at the scene of the murder he was convicted of committing.

MT Law
10:14 AM
34
Another 5th Circuit reversal

Amy Howe
Mod
10:14 AM
10
The Fifth Circuit ruled that Gutierrez could not bring a lawsuit becuase even if Texas's DNA procedures were unconstitutional, the prosecutor "would be unlikely to turn over the physical evidence for DNA testing."
32
This is not the last opinion, by the way.

Dan Epps
Mod
10:15 AM
15
No R- numbers yet. Still more to come that could potentially be written by CJ, CT, SAA (or another SS)

Amy Howe
Mod
10:15 AM
18
The court holds that the Fifth Circuit's decision conflicts with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Reed v. Goertz.
8
Last decision is in Riley v. Bondi, by Justice Alito.

Aditya
10:16 AM
9
Thomas wrote a long... long... opinion about substantive due process once again

Mod
10:16 AM
The votes are splintered. Sotomayor dissents in part, joined in full by Kagan and Jackson and in part by Gorsuch.
22
This is our final opinion of the day

Zachary Shemtob
Mod
10:17 AM
6
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1270_6j37.pdf

Amy Howe
Mod
10:16 AM
The votes are splintered. Sotomayor dissents in part, joined in full by Kagan and Jackson and in part by Gorsuch.
24
This is our final opinion of the day

Zachary Shemtob
Mod
10:17 AM
7
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1270_6j37.pdf

Amy Howe
Mod
10:18 AM
77
The court is now done. The chief justice said that tomorrow will be the last day.
56
(Ooof.)

David LatMod replied Amy Howe
10:18 AM
19
The court is now done. The chief justice said that tomorrow will be the last day.
Whoa! So no Monday!

Dan EppsMod replied David Lat
10:18 AM
13
Whoa! So no Monday!
Gotta start those summer vacations...

David Lat
Mod
10:18 AM
4
Sounds like somebody is eager to start their European vacations!

Richard
10:18 AM
How many cases left to decide tomorrow?

Amy Howe
Mod
10:18 AM
4
Riley is about whether and when a noncitizen who overstayed his visa and has an order for his deportation can challenge an order denying his request for withholding of removal (an order that allows him to be removed from the United States but not to a country where he could be persecuted or tortured). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that the petition for review filed by Pierre Riley, a citizen of Jamaica, came too late because it was not filed 30 days after an immigration officer issued a final removal order in his case, even if his request for withholding of removal was not resolved for more than a year after that.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "Tomorrow -- Friday -- will be the final SCOTUS decision day of the term, Chief Justice Roberts announces."

Chris Geidner
‪@chrisgeidner.bsky.social‬

Follow
BREAKING: Tomorrow — Friday — will be the final SCOTUS decision day of the term, Chief Justice Roberts announces.

The following cases — https://www.lawdork.com/i/166479240/whats-left-from-scotus — remain:

• Kennedy v. Braidwood Management — the Affordable Care Act’s preventative care coverage requirements — Law Dork coverage

• Trump v. CASA — the nationwide scope of injunctions blocking Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship — Law Dork coverage

• FCC v. Consumers’ Research — the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund and the nondelegation doctrine — SCOTUSblog coverage (Amy Howe)

• Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton — age-verification internet regulation and the First Amendment — Law Dork coverage

• Louisiana v. Callais — redistricting and equal protection — The Preamble coverage (Leah Litman)1

• Mahmoud v. Taylor — religious rights surrounding gender and sexuality discussions in schools — Law Dork coverage
ALT
June 26, 2025 at 10:20 AM

BREAKING: Tomorrow — Friday — will be the final SCOTUS decision day of the term, Chief Justice Roberts announces.

The following cases — www.lawdork.com/i/166479240/... — remain:

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) 2025-06-26T14:20:51.326Z