A day after ruling that affirmative action based on race is itself racism, the U.S. Supreme Court also dealt a blow to President Joe Biden's flagship program: $430 billion in student debt erasure.
Brief background: In the face of opposition in Congress, Biden gave up on a series of campaign promises such as education at a public college or public funding for childcare. The more his other plans stalled, the greater the pressure to fulfill the promise of debt erasure. Biden decided to order it by executive order, but by a majority of six conservative justices to three liberals, the justices ruled that it was an overstep of authority.
Biden addresses the latest rulings, Photo: AP
Over the weekend, Biden was outraged, saying they had "argued in the interpretation of the Constitution." He attacked Republican lawmakers who blocked debt erasure and said they were willing to write off debt for business owners during the pandemic — but not for Americans struggling with school debt. "The hypocrisy is just shocking," Biden said. Under the plan, about 40 million Americans would have received about $20,<> in debt erasure. "But the judges said no and literally denied them a chance to change their lives."
The administration will now try to find a way to keep its election promise. Biden said he had instructed the secretary of education to examine whether debt erasure could be advanced through the Higher Education Act of 1965, but that could take months. As if that were not enough, Justice John Roberts, who wrote the decision on Friday, noted that the Higher Education Act permits debt cancellation only for those with disabilities or bankruptcy.
Supporters of the programmer who refused to provide jubilant service, photo: AP
But blocking the write-off of loans was not the only conservative ruling by the conservative panel. Again by a vote of six to three, it was ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services to LGBT marriage.
The ruling came in the case of Denver-area web designer Lori Smith, who relied on her Christian faith in challenging Colorado's anti-discrimination law. Her arguments were rejected by a lower court, but were sanctioned by the Supreme Court. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that Colorado's law would have forced Smith to create content she did not believe in, violating the First Amendment. "If the rule were different, then the more talented the artist, the easier it would be to recruit him to spread the country's favorite messages," Gorsuch wrote. "The First Amendment portrays America as a complex and rich society in which all people are entitled to think and say as they please, not as the government demands."
For her part, liberal chef Sonia Sotomayor wrote: Today, for the first time in its history, the court granted a business to refuse to serve a protected group. The symbolic and immediate result of the permit is the labeling of gays and lesbians as second-class citizens. In this way, the decision itself causes stigmatization, far beyond any refusal to provide service." "I am deeply concerned that this decision will invite even more discrimination against Latino Americans."
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