Supreme Court Opens New Term, Hears First Arguments

Why it matters locally: The Supreme Court's consideration of a case challenging the accountability of energy companies for climate change, *Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County*, could set precedents that impact energy-related industries and environmental regulations in Kansas. Additionally, federal policy changes regarding disability benefits for veterans, military personnel, and asylum seekers discussed during the term may directly affect Kansans.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court opened its new term today, marking the first Monday in October. The day included the release of an order list and the first oral arguments of the session. The order list, published at 9:30 a.m. EDT, contained petitions denied during last week's 'long conference.' Justices heard arguments in two cases. The first, *Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County*, concerns whether a lawsuit filed in Colorado state court, seeking to hold energy companies accountable for their alleged role in climate change, can proceed, or if federal law prohibits such claims. The second case, *Johnson v. United States Congress*, addresses whether a federal district court can review a constitutional challenge to a law limiting disability benefits for incarcerated veterans. Oral arguments began at 10 a.m. EDT. On Tuesday, justices will hear arguments in *Anderson v. Intel Corporation Investment Policy Committee*. This case, filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, involves how to address claims that employers invested employees’ retirement funds imprudently. Separately, on Sept. 28, the Trump administration submitted a dispute over the Federal Bureau of Prisons' policy on healthcare and accommodations for transgender inmates to the interim docket. The Court has requested a response from challengers by 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday. In recent interviews, Justice Samuel Alito commented on his tenure and external perceptions of the Court. He told CBS News in an interview clip released Friday that he considers retirement each term. "It's something I think that somebody at my age has to think about every term," Alito said, according to The New York Times. He added, "I thought that I could still make a valuable contribution, which is why I became a justice and a judge in the first place." Alito also addressed President Donald Trump's comments on the Supreme Court in a Fox News interview broadcast Sunday. He stated he attempts to disregard such comments. "I put all of that out of my mind. I trust that my colleagues put all of that out of their minds," Alito said, as reported by The Hill. He expressed concern about "the escalation in public rhetoric in general and about the things that people in important positions say about the Supreme Court as a whole and about individual justices," and its potential "long-term effect... on the standing of the court." Reuters reported that the 2025-26 term featured legal disputes involving presidential powers, a trend expected to continue. The Court has agreed to hear two immigration-related cases: *Rhoney v. Barbosa-Da Cunha*, regarding mandatory detention without a bond hearing, and *Department of Homeland Security v. DVD*, concerning the rapid expulsion of deportees to countries other than their own. Appeals from the administration also defend policies on transgender people in the military, academic grant reductions, federal prosecutor appointments, and asylum suspension at the U.S.-Mexico border. CNN noted Justice Clarence Thomas's past positions regarding federal law's preemption of state law. Thomas has previously expressed skepticism of federal law overriding state law when Congress has not explicitly stated such an intention, a factor environmental groups may consider relevant in *Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County*. Justice Samuel Alito authored a column for The Wall Street Journal, discussing the judicial theory of originalism. He defined originalism as the belief that "constitutional provisions should be understood to mean what the public would have taken them to mean when they were adopted." Alito explored various approaches to originalism and how judges navigate associated challenges. "Originalism disciplines the decision-making process, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for judges to exercise judgment," Alito wrote. Beyond current cases, information on the educational backgrounds of the current justices indicates that eight of the nine attended either Harvard or Yale Law School. Justice Amy Coney Barrett attended Notre Dame Law School. Justice Clarence Thomas described his experience as one of two Black students at his seminary high school, St. John Vianney, before attending Conception Seminary College and then the College of the Holy Cross on scholarship. He helped establish the Black Student Union at Holy Cross and graduated near the top of his class. Thomas then attended Yale Law School. Thomas has stated that his experience at Yale was a "mistake" and that his diploma's value was diminished by "the taint of racial preference." Chief Justice John Roberts attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He said Harvard Law School fostered open conversations. Roberts mentioned being a frequent customer at a Baskin-Robbins near campus. Justice Samuel Alito attended Princeton for his undergraduate degree, followed by Yale Law School. He described some Princeton students as "very smart people, very privileged people behaving irresponsibly." Alito chose Yale Law, citing its smaller size compared to Harvard and his desire to study constitutional law with professor Alexander Bickel. Justice Sonia Sotomayor also attended Princeton, four years after Alito. She described initially struggling with writing and subsequently purchasing grammar and vocabulary books. Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude in 1976 and attended Yale Law School. Justice Elena Kagan, a 1981 Princeton graduate, served as chair of the editorial board for the Daily Princetonian. She earned her senior thesis on the history of socialism in New York City. Kagan told a Princeton audience in 2014 that she learned "to write fast, and I learned to write clearly" from her time at the paper. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1986 and later became the school's first female dean in 2003. Justice Neil Gorsuch attended Columbia University, graduating in three years. He wrote a weekly column for the Columbia Daily Spectator and co-founded a conservative newspaper, the Federalist Paper. Over 150 of his former Columbia classmates supported his 2017 confirmation. He attended Harvard Law School on a Truman Scholarship. Justice Brett Kavanaugh attended Yale College as an undergraduate in 1983, and then Yale Law School. He played junior varsity basketball and covered sports for the Yale Daily News. He graduated with a history degree in 1987 and was a notes editor for the Yale Law Journal. Justice Amy Coney Barrett attended Rhodes College, majoring in English literature and minoring in French, graduating magna cum laude in 1994. She then attended Notre Dame Law School on a full-tuition scholarship, served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review, and graduated first in her class in 1997. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson attended Harvard for both undergraduate and law degrees. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1992 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1996, where she was a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. Speaking in September 2025, she said she "did not have a great time in law school."