5 Cases to Watch as Justices Meet: Social Media to Death Penalty

US Supreme Court justices meet privately on Tuesday for what’s known as their long conference. They’ll sort through petitions that have piled up during the summer, and decide which ones to grant for the coming term.

The court is likely to add a handful of cases to the merits docket, which so far is lighter than usual. The justices open the term on Oct. 2.

Here are some of the notable cases up for consideration:

Social Media: The justices are likely to agree to hear challenges to social media laws out of Texas and Florida that severely restrict the editorial discretion of platforms like Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. The Justice Department urged the court to take the case, a recommendation that’s almost always followed. The justices are already set to hear a dispute over the use of social media by public officials.

The Texas case is NetChoice v. Paxton, 22-555. The Florida case is Moody v. NetChoice, 22-277 and NetChoice v. Moody, 22-393. Read More.

Gay Conversion Ban: Conservative groups are challenging Washington state’s ban on gay conversion therapy. The law prohibits medical professionals from treating minors with the approach that’s meant to change a person’s sexual orientation. The challenge, which invokes free speech and religious rights, follows last term’s decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, in which the justices sided with a web designer who didn’t want to make custom sites for same-sex couples.

The case is Tingley v. Ferguson, 22-942. Read More.

Rent Stabilization: New York landlords are challenging the city’s historic rent stabilization law. The law, which caps what landlords can charge and prohibits them from refusing to renew certain leases, is a “taking” that requires “just compensation,” groups petitioning the court say. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld amendments to the law, saying they complied with due process and the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment.

The cases are Comm. Housing Imp. Prog. v. City of New York, 20-3366 and 74 Pinehurst LLC v. State of New York, 21-467. Read More.

Student Visas: A labor union representing tech workers is challenging a law that allows individuals in the US on student visas to remain in the country for an additional 36 months to attend school-recommended practical training. The case is at the intersection of immigration and administrative law, two areas where the current court has been especially interested. The DC Circuit ruled the program was a “reasonable interpretation” of the law authorizing F-1 student visas.

The case is WA Alliance of Tech Workers v. DHS, 22-1071. Read More.

Death Penalty: Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip is again asking the Supreme Court to take a look at his appeal. A divided court ruled in 2015 against Glossip in his challenge to the method in which the state intended to carry out his execution. This time, he’s saying the state withheld evidence in order to secure his conviction in an alleged murder-for-hire.

The cases are Glossip v. Oklahoma, 22-6500 and Glossip v. Oklahoma, 22-7466. Read More.