Look Out for These Supreme Court Cases

October 6th marks the beginning of the 2014-2015 Supreme Court term, and Elizabeth Slattery of the Heritage Foundation has compiled a list of some of the most important cases to watch in the upcoming year.

According to Slattery, here are a few of the cases to keep an eye on:

1. Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads: In 2008, Congress allowed Amtrak — a for-profit company created by the federal government — to co-write railroad regulations. The USSC will have to decide whether that delegation of authority was legal.
2. Helen v. North Carolina: If a police officer has reasonable suspicion that a law is being violated, he is authorized to make a traffic stop. But if the police officer is wrong about what the law says, is the stop still valid? The Court will decide.
3. Holt v. Hobbs: In Arkansas, an inmate in the state prison system insists that he must grow a beard in order to comply with his religion. Can the state prohibit him from having a beard, or is it protected under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act?
4. There is still additional room on the 2014-2015 docket, and Slattery notes that there is a chance the Court will hear a challenge to two appeals courts’ decisions in Halbig v. Burwell and King v. Burwell, involving the IRS’s decision to grant subsidies to health insurance enrollees in federally-run exchanges.

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