Supreme Court Makes Another Abrupt Schedule Change

An exterior view of the Supreme Court on June 20, 2024, in Washington, DC.

The U.S. Supreme Court made another abrupt schedule change on Thursday, confirming that the session will continue into July.

As the court scrambles to hand down opinions of its pending cases before the justices recess for the summer, it has added additional opinion days to the schedule. On Thursday, another schedule change was made when the court added an opinion day on Monday to the calendar on its website. Court sessions begin in October and can continue until late June or early July.

Court pundits had speculated about the schedule change because of something Chief Justice John Roberts did not do at the conclusion of court on Thursday morning.

"Court concludes without the Chief Justice announcing that tomorrow will be the final day of opinions. That means we're likely to have another opinion day next week," Kimberly Robinson, Supreme Court reporter for Bloomberg Law, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, posted: "At the end of today's #SCOTUS session, the Chief Justice did *not* say that tomorrow is the last day, which means that it won't be. In other words, we are definitely going into next week. "

Lydia Wheeler, a Supreme Court reporter at Bloomberg Law, wrote that Monday is "likely not the last day. The chief usually announces the last day of opinions from the bench and he didn't do that."

Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court via email for comment.

The Supreme Court handed down several important rulings on Thursday, including one overturning the Purdue Pharma opioid settlement. In a 5-4 decision, the court rejected a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, finding that the settlement inappropriately included legal protections for the Sackler family, which controlled the company.

Elsewhere, in a 6-3 ruling, the court allowed Idaho hospitals to provide emergency abortions while legal proceedings on a near-total abortion ban in the state continue.

In a 5-4 decision, the court also blocked the EPA from enforcing a plan to regulate air quality after it knocked down more than 20 states' own air-quality initiatives while some states try to appeal it.

The court in a 6-3 decision rejected the use of internal courts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve some enforcement disputes, citing that it violates the right to a jury trial.

Meanwhile, the court has yet to make a ruling on former President Donald Trump's presidential immunity claim. In an attempt to throw out the four federal felony counts against him for his alleged actions surrounding the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Trump claimed that his alleged actions are covered by presidential immunity since he was still in office when the riot erupted. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the case is politically motivated.

Update 6/27/24, 1:15 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

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