news central. decision day, round two, two consequential cases standing before the supreme court breaks for the summer, and next hour, the final rulings, the fate of student loans right now is uncertain as the justices soon decide whether or not president biden s debt forgiveness program can take effect. the plan would erase up to $20,000 in loan payments for borrowers. and with more than 40 million eligible borrowers in limbo, $400 billion of taxpayer money is on the line. will the court block biden s plan? plus, was a web site designer s free speech violated by a law in colorado? the designer opposes same-sex marriage, and if the court rules in her favor, civil rights groups are worried it could leave the door open for business owners to deny services, not just as same-sex couples, but even along racial and religious
she s asking for a ruling before there s been anyone forcing her to make these web sites but it s still a significant case here, and sara, the concern from the liberal justices is if the court sides with the web site designer, could it open the door to other creative businesses to refuse service to people they don t agree with, whether it s on the basis of sexual orientation or religion or race. there is a lot riding on two big cases. they come down today, the last day at 10:00 a.m., and a lot riding on it, including the fate of those student loans for millions of americans. there s always the historical record of the supreme court, and this court leans conservative. is there any indication on how these last two big rulings may go? it s always hard to guess with the supreme court. i mean, they were very skeptical of the loan program, so i would guess that if they find standing, they will strike it down. as for the gay rights case, we ll see. they did seem inclined to side with the
sarah, part of justice sotomayor s dissent here. she writes this, battling discrimination is like battling the hydra, when you defeat one form of discrimination another springs up. time and again, businesses and entities have claimed constitutional rights to discriminate and time and again the court has stood up to the claims. today the court shrinks. what type of precedent, sarah, does this decision set? what are you most worried about? look, this is a marked departure from where the supreme court has been previously. this decision is also narrow. the court is finding here that the web site designer has a right for free speech because she is offering original customized goods that are tailored for a particular individual.
member of a legal institute in minnesota, who is also part of the lgbtq community, but also we spoke with smith at the center of all of this. when we asked for the reaction, she was thrilled. she said this is a win for free speech, freedom of expression, and so remember what she has been saying this whole time. i m an artist, my web designs, i m creating unique messages and so you re going to hear from her in a moment, why she explains for her this is a win for the first. take a listen. all i ve wanted is to speak consistent with my beliefs, and i want that for everyone. i want that for the lgbt web site designer, the democratic speech writer, the jewish calligrapher, the pro life photographer, everyone should be free to speak consistent with who they are and what they believe. the government can t force
just brought up. she talked about lori smith who s at the center of all of this, how for seven years she s been wanting to design wedding web sites and how she s not been able to do that. that s going to be the first thing she starts working on now that the decision has come down, and so in short, i would say a summary of my conversation with her, she says that this is a win for both free speech and the first amendment. from day one, all i wanted is to speak consistent with my beliefs, and i want that for everyone. i want that for the lgbt web site designer, the democrat speech writer, the jewish calligrapher, the pro-life photographer, everyone should be free to speak consistent with who they are and what they believe. and i m grateful for the court for affirming that the government can t force anyone to say something they don t believe. today is a victory for each and every one of us. i ll add on the other end of this, we have had a chance to speak to a number of people