The Supreme Court went out with a bang. Here’s a summary of the seven final opinions released this week: 

Birthright citizenship: The court ruled 6-3 that Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions can’t stand. The three liberal justices, Roberts and Barrett agreed it’s unconstitutional. And a sixth, Kavanaugh, said it violated a 1940 law. 

Transgender athletes: The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that states can bar transgender girls from competing on girls' and women’s school sports teams. 

Independent agencies: The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that Trump can terminate independent agency leaders without cause. The decision overrules 91 years of precedent and is set to enable Trump to fire various leaders across the executive branch. 

Federal Reserve: The court ruled 5-4 that Trump owed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook more process before firing her. She’ll remain in her job as the case returns to a lower court, but it’s not the final word. Roberts and Kavanaugh joined the three liberal justices. 

Mail ballots: The court ruled 5-4 that federal law doesn’t stop states from accepting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day. Barrett and Roberts joined the three liberal justices to rule against the Republican National Committee. 

Campaign finance: The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that coordinated expenditure limits violate the First Amendment’s free speech protections. 

Geofence warrants: The court held 6-3 that obtaining cellphone location data through a geofence warrant is a Fourth Amendment search because individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy pertaining to those records. However, it did decide whether the warrant used to identify a Virginia bank robbery suspect was valid, sending Okello Chatrie’s case back to the lower court for review.  

It will soon cost more to access federal court records.   

The fee to use the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system is going up by two cents per page, from 10 cents to 12 cents, starting Jan. 1,  according to the Judicial Conference Executive Committee.   

PACER is an online portal that provides the public with electronic access to case information and filings from district, appellate and bankruptcy courts across the U.S.  

It’s all part of an ongoing project to develop a new case management system to replace the current outdated database.  

Judge Robert Conrad Jr., director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, called the increase a “last resort.”   

“Unfortunately, without a modest increase in fees, we will not be able to collect enough money to cover the costs of delivering the case management system that the federal courts must have to continue to operate securely,” the judge said.   

Next year’s bump is the first in nearly 15 years and will be effective for five years.   

While the federal judiciary is also raising the automatic exemption fees up to $40 per quarter, some lawmakers want to make the entire system free to users. 

Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have introduced a bill that calls for the creation of a modern, centralized replacement for PACER that removes the paywall for viewing, downloading or printing a document.  

“Americans should not have to sell plasma or wrestle with clunky government websites just to read public court records,” Kennedy previously said.  

In: Guns and proof-of-citizenship 

Out: Trump’s E. Jean Carroll appeal 

Maybe: Pennsylvania mail ballots 

The justices asked for the Trump administration’s views on Pennsylvania’s requirement that mail voters date their ballot envelopes before deciding whether to take it up.  

The court often goes with the sitting administration’s recommendation, but timing wise, it means the justices won’t consider taking up the case until at least the fall.  

A lower court ruled the requirement unconstitutional. The Republican National Committee (RNC) wants to enforce it. The cases are RNC v. Eakin and Pennsylvania v. Eakin. 

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