The 2026-27 term does not officially begin until Monday, but the Supreme Court has already added three new cases to its oral argument docket, addressed emergency applications, and announced a significant last-minute recusal. On Thursday, the court added a case on the Trump administration’s policy of detaining noncitizens apprehended within the United States (as opposed to at the border) without the opportunity for a bond hearing, along with a dispute over the enforcement of zoning ordinances against religious institutions.
Decisions on immigration and executions
On Wednesday, the court cleared the way for Tennessee to execute Christa Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, despite a dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Tennessee attempted to carry out the execution, but Pike survived and the procedure was stopped. Gov. Bill Lee has since halted the remaining execution scheduled for this year.
Tuesday saw the court grant the Trump administration’s request to allow rapid deportations to third-party countries, a move that three justices indicated they would deny. In a separate matter, the court also agreed to hear a case involving the enforcement of zoning ordinances against religious institutions and the effect of a federal law intended to protect the former spouses of U.S. servicemembers.
Looking ahead, the Supreme Court‘s 2026-27 term will officially kick off on Monday with arguments in two cases: Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, on whether a lawsuit filed in Colorado state court seeking to hold energy companies responsible for their alleged role in climate change can go forward, or whether federal law instead bars such claims; and Johnson v. United States Congress, on whether a federal district court may hear a constitutional challenge to a law limiting disability benefits for certain incarcerated veterans.
On Monday, the Trump administration brought a dispute over the Federal Bureau of Prison’s policy on healthcare and accommodations for transgender inmates to the interim docket. The court has asked the challengers to respond to this request by 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday, October 8.
On the docket for the new term
The justices will hear argument on December 9 regarding the legality of third-country removals and whether a district court had the authority to halt the process.
