DAYTON — The United State Supreme Court announced two decisions Friday on the final day of its current term.
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The Court blocked President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan and limited LGBTQ protections.
Both decisions were 6-3 between Conservative and Liberal Justices.
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News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson spoke with a history law professor at Cedarville University on Friday about what these decisions mean for people in the Miami Valley.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
This means borrowers will need to start paying their dues beginning on September 1.
The Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that President Biden did not have the authority to continue with the student loan forgiveness program. It would have canceled $430 billion of student loan debt.
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Robertson spoke Friday with Marc Clauson, History Law Professor at Cedarville University. He said it’s a good idea to start looking into how much you would owe as soon as possible.
Clauson also said this was a Separation of Powers case where the court argued that the decision should be up to Congress, not the President.
“The argument there was that Congress had the power to eliminate loan payments but the President did not have the power do that, only Congress had that power,” he said. “So, the idea was that Congress could not delegate that power to anyone nor could the President take that power from Congress. So, the court) they said we are not going to let you do it on that basis. The President cannot do it, the court argued.”
He also said Congress can pass a law that could forgive student loans and they could decide to or not.
President Biden disagreed with the court’s ruling on Friday.
“I know there’s millions of Americans — millions of Americans — in this country who feel disappointed and discouraged and even a little bit angry about the court’s decision today about student debt,” he said in a news conference Friday afternoon. “And I must admit I do, too.”
Biden said that the education department will not refer borrowers that don’t pay their student loans to credit agencies for 12 months, the New York Times reported.
This will give borrowers additional time.
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The court also decided in a 6-3 decision to limit LGBTQ protections in a separate Colorado case based upon a free speech issue.
Professor Clauson told Robertson the Colorado Legislature passed a law that said you discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, and more.
He said this affects people in the Miami Valley because it’s going to change the way the courts handle these types of cases moving forward.
“Any similar case now that comes before a court, similar facts I should say, probably the people involved in that case the people who are lawyers for the people who feel their free speech has been violated, they probably will ask the court to dismiss those cases,” said Clauson.
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President Biden also expressed concern over the decision on Friday.
“In America, no person should face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love,” the president said in a statement.
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Robertson said this was the last day for the U.S. Supreme Court to make any decisions before the summer break.
They will be back in session on the first Monday in October.
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