00:00The U.S. Supreme Court is concluding its 2025-26 term with a series of landmark decisions that
00:06could have lasting political consequences, including a decision on the Trump administration's
00:11denial of birthright citizenship and if states can ban transgender athletes from playing in
00:16girls' sports. How did the justices rule on the court's final day for decisions? Here's what you
00:22need to know. Supreme Court justices laid out a series of game-changing opinions on June 30th,
00:27including at least one that was a major blow to the president. SCOTUS struck down President
00:32Trump's executive order denying birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants
00:37and tourists, squashing one of the president's marquee policies for the second time in six months.
00:43The 6-3 ruling had Chief Justice John Roberts joining the majority with fellow conservative
00:48Amy Coney Barrett and liberal justices Ketanji Brown-Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor,
00:55a rare combination on the divided court. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch,
01:01and Clarence Thomas dissented, arguing that Trump's order should have been allowed to come
01:06into force. Justice Brett Kavanaugh split the difference, arguing that the order did not
01:10violate the 14th Amendment, but did violate federal law. Trump's day one order had been in limbo amid
01:16a legal battle over whether it violated the 14th Amendment, which states that, quote,
01:21"...all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof
01:26are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." The subsequent
01:31Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 clarified that birthright citizenship is automatically granted
01:38to a, quote, "...person born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The
01:43justices also made decisions in favor of the Trump administration, like upholding state-level
01:47bans on transgender competitors playing girls' sports in Idaho and West Virginia, a landmark
01:53decision that could have major implications for more than half the country where similar
01:57policies are in place. In a 6-3 opinion in which the liberal justices concurred and dissented
02:03in part, the high court determined that neither state had violated the Equal Protection Clause
02:08of the 14th Amendment by enacting the bans. But the majority opinion also underscored the
02:13importance of treating transgender athletes with respect. Republican-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh
02:19wrote in the majority opinion that, quote, "...no student athlete on either side of the issue,
02:24whether a biological female or transgender, deserves to be ostracized or vilified."
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