U.S. Supreme Court to hear gun rights, LGBT, and voting rights cases in October 2026 term

The U.S. Supreme Court prepares for its October 2026 term with a high-profile docket addressing major constitutional and corporate issues. Key cases include challenges to assault-style rifle bans in Connecticut and Illinois, a Republican-led effort to revive Arizona voter restrictions, and the Trump administration's defense of prolonged immigrant detentions. The conservative-majority court will also resolve disputes involving religious exemptions from Colorado's preschool nondiscrimination rules and corporate battles involving ExxonMobil, Apple, and PepsiCo.

Assault-style rifle ban challenge

• ▪Since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, four U.S. appellate courts have upheld state-level bans on assault-style weapons.
• ▪In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that modern gun restrictions must be consistent with the historical tradition of firearm regulation to comply with the Second Amendment.
• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two appeals challenging state-level bans on assault-style rifles, such as AR-15s, in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois.

Arizona voter restriction appeal

• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a Republican-led bid, backed by the Donald Trump administration, to revive Arizona voter restrictions that stiffen proof-of-citizenship requirements and purge voter rolls.
• ▪A lower court halted Arizona's voter restriction provisions, finding they violated a federal voting registration statute, following a lawsuit by Mi Familia Vota.

Immigrant detention without bond hearings

• ▪A lower court ruled that the constitutional right to due process bars unreasonably prolonged detention without a hearing for non-U.S. citizens facing deportation after criminal convictions.
• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Donald Trump administration's appeal regarding the legality of detaining certain convicted immigrants facing deportation without bond hearings.

Colorado preschool nondiscrimination requirement

• ▪A lower court ruled that Colorado's preschool funding program nondiscrimination requirement did not violate the constitutional religious rights of the Catholic plaintiffs.
• ▪In March 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Colorado law banning "conversion" talk therapy for LGBT minors on free speech grounds.
• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal by the Archdiocese of Denver seeking exemption from a Colorado preschool funding program's nondiscrimination requirement.

Corporate cases before the Court

• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a dispute arising from an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games against Apple.
• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a bid by ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to dismiss a climate-related lawsuit filed by officials in Boulder, Colorado.
• ▪The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a trademark dispute involving PepsiCo.

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