The U.S. Supreme Court’s Supreme Court roundup on Thursday morning blocked about 200,000 Roundup lawsuits. In a 7-2 decision, the court said Monsanto and Bayer cannot be sued in state courts over claims that an ingredient in Roundup causes cancer.
The ruling turns on federal regulators’ view of the product. The court said the EPA and other federal regulators had already determined Roundup is not likely carcinogenic if used properly, and that finding controlled the state-law claims in the case.
Roundup and the 7-2 split
The decision puts the brakes on a large share of the pending litigation against Monsanto and Bayer. It also left Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson aligned with the conservative majority in the Roundup case, a split that widened the margin beyond the 7-2 result alone.
For plaintiffs, the practical effect is immediate in court terms: the ruling narrows the path for state-court claims over Roundup-related cancer allegations. The decision did not end the broader legal fight, but it cut off one major route that had kept the cases moving in state courts.
Thursday morning at The Supreme Court
The Roundup ruling was one of four major decisions the court issued Thursday morning on immigration, firearms and pesticides. In a separate 6-3 decision, the court ruled a Hawaii firearm law unconstitutional. That law barred gun owners with concealed-carry permits from bringing firearms onto private property without first obtaining permission from property owners.
The court also ruled that the federal government can turn away people at the border who are seeking asylum. In the same morning, it held that the president has the authority to end the Temporary Protected Status program at any time without judicial review.
Brad Joondeph on TPS
Brad Joondeph, a professor of law at Santa Clara University, said the Temporary Protected Status ruling could reach far beyond the case itself. “That's going to affect thousands of people... it also means generally speaking the administration has carte blanche to remove TPS status for any country” he said.
He added, “It has broader implications for the administration's ability to control the immigration process without any judicial review.” The program allows 1.3 million people from 17 countries impacted by civil war and natural disasters to temporarily stay and work in the country, and the ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by some of the 350,000 Haitian TPS holders and 6,000 Syrian TPS holders.
The court did not release decisions on ending birthright citizenship, state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports or regulations on how mail-in ballots are counted. It is expected to release its next batch of decisions on Monday.
