Reflecting on the 2023 Supreme Court Decisions

By Josie Kalipeni

In a flurry of decisions, the Supreme Court decided to continue rolling back protections for the most vulnerable among us as they did with Roe v. Wade last year. These decisions directly impact our staff, our Network, and the people we partner with and represent on the state and federal levels.

The Court made it unconstitutional for universities across the country to consider a student’s race as one factor in a holistic admissions review process, overturning affirmative action. Affirmative action was a step in correcting past laws that intentionally excluded entire groups of qualified people. It required that institutions that were founded in deep-rooted systemic discrimination take into account people that are marginalized because of race, religion, nationality, sex, and caste in addition to qualifications when considering extending an offer such as college admissions. It required tax-payer funded institutions to meet minimum thresholds of diversity and equity. It created a pathway for education and employment for women, with white women benefiting the most despite the association with BIPOC. The idea that in 2023, systems, processes, and institutions that contribute to the economic mobility of BIPOC people should not be racist or discriminatory does not, in fact, make them so.

Another decision with compounding detrimental impact was the overturning of President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. Biden’s plan was a first step in addressing the disproportionate hardship Black workers and their families face when pursuing higher education. Black families borrow student loans at higher rates than other races — and they owe more. 30.2% of Black families hold student loan debt, versus 20.0% of white and 14.3% of Hispanic families. Meanwhile, Black families owe a median of $30,000, compared with $23,000 among white and $17,600 among Hispanic families. These same borrowers that are being asked to manage huge student loan payments must also juggle caregiving responsibilities and careers. Add to this the fact that women and Black people are overrepresented in the low-wage workforce, and what you have is a perfect storm for burnout, economic instability, and rampant injustice. The situation is untenable at best, and traumatic at worst, perpetuating multi-generational poverty. 

In yet another ruling that reinforces discrimination, the Court decided that a business can deny service to same-sex couples in protection of the business’ right to free speech. This ruling is a dangerous precedent, that was also based on a hypothetical scenario – not an actual incident. What would happen if banks chose not to provide loans to same-sex couples? We know better. This decision revisits the days of “separate but equal” where Blacks were discriminated against legally, only now the gay community is being banned from the white fountains of service. What marginalized people will be the next target of ill-intended legal strategies meant to discriminate against anyone who is not a cisheteronormative white American man?

While it is disappointing that the Court overturned so many of the rulings that protected communities most impacted by racism and the white, patriarchal society, there were a few––very few––bright spots coming from Court decisions.

• They rejected the State Legislature Theory, meaning federal elections can’t be decided only by states. The decision is a major victory for voting rights advocates, who feared that a ruling adopting the independent state legislature theory would wreak havoc on federal election systems, and allow state legislatures to operate unchecked when setting federal election rules and drawing congressional districts. 
• In a 5-4 decision, the justices upheld a key section of the Voting Rights Act finding that a congressional map drawn by Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature after the 2020 census diluted the power of Black voters in a state where 1 in 4 residents is Black. This win in the redistricting battle in Alabama could serve as a precedent for other legislatures. It is significant because fair representation in Congress is a right and one of the tools necessary to win economic, gender, and racial justice for all.

It isn’t lost on us that these decisions were rolled out around Independence Day. The irony is that the negative decisions that came out of the court impede the freedom of Black, LGBTQIA+, and Brown communities. 

Freedom means the right to care for and be cared for without loss of income or at the risk of financial instability. It means having equitable access to constitutional rights and to this country’s economy. It means loving who we want and having all families recognized and represented. And it means having federal supports that encourage a healthy work-life balance through access to paid family and medical leave, paid sick and safe days, and universal childcare. 

All the Supreme Court has taught us this year is what we already know: nobody’s free until everybody’s free. Collective advocacy achieves collective good, and there is no functioning economy without vibrant, interdependent communities. Until BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities have the same protections under all laws, then Family Values @ Work will continue to work for gender, race, and economic justice.