Arizona law experts recap U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 session

The U.S. Supreme Court is wrapping up a blockbuster 2025 session, having given rulings in several notable cases. Landmark decisions on subjects like immigration and the power of lower courts are just a few of the important decisions issued by the justices this year.

Attorney Stephen Montoya, Partner at Montoya, Lucero and Pastor, and Paul Bender, Professor of Law at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU, joined “Arizona Horizon” host Ted Simons to review and discuss the biggest cases from this session and what impact they will have.

Many of the cases tackled by the lower courts this year were prompted by President Donald Trump. Many of his recent executive orders and proposals have drawn criticism from lower court judges. Bender expressed that recently courts have been protesting less about the president’s actions.

“It’s a little frightening,” Bender said. ” The court has a big problem with him because he’s going to keep doing crazy things and they have to decide what to do about it.”

In addition to the issues in the lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court has encountered pushback against their recent court opinions. The June 2025 case United States v. Skrmetti upheld Tennessee’s ban on minors receiving hormone treatment therapy for sex changing purposes.

“The real reason for this statute was against people who wanted to obtain medication impacting their gender identity.” Montoya said. “The statute was all about gender, but the courts said it was about age which was not true.”

The court system is tasked with checking the power of the executive branch, but following this recent session some experts are beginning to question this sentiment. Bender said that the Supreme Court lacked a sense of leadership, which is beginning to impact their credibility.

“They just seem to be wallowing in a lot of doctrines without a lot of coming to grips with what is important,” Bender said. “Is that the way a supreme court should decide things?”