ACS Statement in Response to the End of the Supreme Court’s Destructive, Retrograde Term

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez, media@acslaw.org

Washington, DC – American Constitution Society President Phil Brest released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions on the final day of the 2025-26 term:

“Today’s decisions, the final of the Court’s term, were emblematic of the Roberts Court’s recent trajectory. In Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., the Court’s conservative supermajority refused to recognize the constitutional rights of a discrete and insular class of people, denying the humanity of the brave individuals who sought to vindicate their rights. And minutes later, the same six conservative members of the Court found their way in NRSC v. FEC to the conclusion that political parties cannot be limited by any amount in how much they are able to coordinate spending directly with a candidate. This was followed by a decision in Trump v. Barbara, where only five members of the Court were willing to acknowledge that the plain text of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is a foundational principle of this country and cannot be rescinded or changed by the whims of any president. Every American born on American soil, their families, and their communities can breathe a little easier today after months of understandable fear and anxiety. That the Court chose to hear argument in this case and waited until the final day to provide this relief is worthy of condemnation.

All term, we saw the conservative supermajority of this Court deny the basic reading, history, and even tradition, of the Constitution to deny the rights of minority groups while contorting the law and facts of cases before them to advance corporate interests and partisan goals. As Justice Sotomayor noted in her dissent in West Virginia v. B.P.J., “[i]n the end, to the Court, the facts do not matter, even though the consequences are serious.” At the end of this term, the fact of racial discrimination in voting and redistricting did not matter to this Court, and the consequences are already being felt by Black Americans, particularly in the South, seeking fair representation in Congress. The fact of a 90-year precedent and the structure of our modern federal government did not matter to this Court, and the consequences of expanded executive power will be felt by anyone who wants clean air, protections in the marketplace, and safety at their workplace. The facts have not mattered to the supermajority of this Court as it pursued its nakedly partisan and ideological agenda. That they were only able to gather five votes for a plain reading of the text of the Fourteenth Amendment is not a sign of moderation or a cause for relief, but rather an alarming fact that we must not ignore."

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org.