The Supreme Court has loaded its docket for next term with at least three legal battles that may affect minors’ health and safety.
The justices will begin the term in October with struggles lined up involving a state law that bans medical treatment for transgender youth, a law requiring age verification to access porn websites, and federal marketing authorization for flavored e-cigarettes.
Court watchers say the justices likely weren’t focused on how the disputes could influence America’s youth when they granted the cases for review.
Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, said it’s a “complete coincidence” that the legal fights involve matters related to minors.
“I don’t think any justice thinks, ’Oh, we haven’t had enough cases about kids lately,’” he said.
Carolyn Shapiro, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said the legal tangles are probably more related to politics.
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“I think this spate of cases reflects the politicization of at least some of these issues, which has led to new laws. (I would not put vaping in that category.) Those new laws then get challenged. And [the Supreme Court] is not shying away from politically charged cases,” she said in an email to The Washington Times.
The justices said they will hear arguments on the limits of flavored electronic cigarettes and whether Texas can bar minors from accessing adult websites by requiring users to enter personal information to verify their age.
Texas’ lawmakers passed a bill to deter the flow of adult images and materials to minors. A company that violates the state’s requirement could face civil fines of more than $10,000.
The Free Speech Coalition challenged the law, saying the age verification process infringes on adult use of porn sites by requiring individuals to enter too much personal information and runs afoul of the First Amendment.
A lower court sided with Texas, prompting the appeal to the high court.
The e-cigarette litigation comes to the justices after the Food and Drug Administration denied marketing authorization for flavored e-cigarettes, or vapes, by Triton Distribution.
The company said the flavors would help adults switch to its products instead of smoking traditional cigarettes, but the FDA said the flavors would attract minors and pose a risk to public health.
A lower court sided against the FDA over its denial of the company’s marketing authorization.
Last month, the justices also announced they will hear a major dispute over a state law that restricts the medical treatment of transgender youth.
The dispute out of Tennessee involves three transgender minors and their parents, as well as a doctor for 16 transgender youth patients, who asked the justices to consider their challenge to Tennessee’s ban on medication for transgender minors.
That ban is one of 21 state laws banning medical treatment for gender dysphoria in minors.
Courts have ruled differently on those laws, prompting the transgender minors — represented by the American Civil Liberties Union — to challenge the Tennessee ban.
The state bans transgender adolescents from receiving medical treatment and prohibits a provider from performing a medical procedure to transition a minor from their sex designated at birth.
The district court had ruled for the transgender youth, halting the state law from taking effect.
But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reasoned that Tennessee has an interest in regulating transgender adolescent health care, prompting the appeal to the high court.
Oral arguments have not been scheduled for the cases, but it took at least four justices to vote in favor of hearing each legal battle.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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