WEBVTT 00:01.433 --> 00:03.733 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% JUDY WOODRUFF: We have three headline-making stories tonight. 00:03.733 --> 00:08.733 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Another killing by a police officer fuels the protests for justice and racial equality. 00:10.700 --> 00:14.500 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% COVID-19 cases are back on the rise, as the United States works on opening up. 00:16.800 --> 00:19.900 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% But, first, a historic ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court today outlawing job discrimination 00:21.233 --> 00:25.666 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity. 00:25.666 --> 00:29.366 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% John Yang breaks down what the justices said and what it means. 00:29.366 --> 00:34.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JOHN YANG: The court's decision declaring that a six-decade-old civil rights law protects 00:36.466 --> 00:40.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% gay and transgendered workers from employment discrimination was stated clearly and simply: 00:42.533 --> 00:46.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% "An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person 00:48.900 --> 00:53.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a 00:55.266 --> 00:59.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what the law forbids." 01:01.333 --> 01:05.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Justice Neil Gorsuch, a member of the court's conservative faction, wrote the opinion and 01:05.066 --> 01:10.066 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices in the 6-3 majority. 01:12.066 --> 01:16.633 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% The ruling is a milestone for gay rights and comes at a time when minorities across the 01:16.633 --> 01:18.500 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% country are speaking out for justice. 01:18.500 --> 01:19.933 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% PROTESTERS What do we want? 01:19.933 --> 01:20.933 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% PROTESTERS: Justice! 01:20.933 --> 01:22.200 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% PROTESTER: When do we want it? 01:22.200 --> 01:24.766 align:left position:25%,start line:93.33% size:75% PROTESTERS: Now! 01:24.766 --> 01:28.200 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% JOHN YANG: As in this joint Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights march yesterday in Los Angeles. 01:30.666 --> 01:35.066 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% Before today's decision, it was legal in 28 states to fire someone or refuse them a promotion 01:36.200 --> 01:39.833 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% simply because they were gay or transgender. 01:39.833 --> 01:43.133 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Marcia Coyle is chief Washington correspondent for "The National Law Journal." 01:43.133 --> 01:46.766 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MARCIA COYLE, "The National Law Journal": I think it is fair to call it a landmark decision, 01:46.766 --> 01:51.733 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% one, because it took -- it has been a long time coming, long-fought by the LGBTQ community. 01:54.400 --> 01:59.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% We don't know yet all the implications of the decision. And some of the questions that 02:01.433 --> 02:04.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% were raised in the opinions, Justice Gorsuch said will be saved for another day. But it 02:06.566 --> 02:10.533 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% clearly is going to make employers across the United States think about their employments 02:12.333 --> 02:15.966 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% policies towards their workers, as well as job applicants. 02:15.966 --> 02:20.833 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JOHN YANG: Gorsuch brushed aside the Trump administration's argument that the Civil Rights 02:20.833 --> 02:25.833 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% Act of 1964 was not written with gay and transgender people in mind: "The limits of the drafters' 02:27.433 --> 02:32.433 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% imagination supply no reason to ignore the law's demands." 02:32.433 --> 02:37.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito, writing for himself and justice Clarence Thomas, was 02:37.166 --> 02:42.166 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% just as blunt: "There is only one word for what the court has done today: legislation." 02:44.200 --> 02:48.966 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% It was the Supreme Court's first significant gay rights decision not written by retired 02:48.966 --> 02:53.933 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Justice Anthony Kennedy, who stepped down in 2018. Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, clerked 02:56.533 --> 02:59.800 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% for Kennedy, as did the third dissenting justice, Brett Kavanaugh, whom President Trump nominated 03:00.600 --> 03:02.633 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% to replace Kennedy. 03:02.633 --> 03:06.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Kavanaugh wrote that the court effectively amended the civil rights law, a power that 03:06.233 --> 03:11.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% "belongs to Congress and the president in the legislative process, not to this court." 03:13.266 --> 03:17.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Analysts said Gorsuch's opinion offered fresh insight into one of the court's newest justices. 03:19.200 --> 03:22.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MARCIA COYLE: He sort of telegraphed where he was going during the oral arguments back 03:22.433 --> 03:27.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% in October. And, at that point, he talked about the text of Title VII, the words that 03:30.600 --> 03:35.600 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% employers shall not discriminate because of sex. This is perhaps his most in-depth application 03:39.466 --> 03:43.533 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% of textualism and how he reads statutes. 03:43.533 --> 03:48.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JOHN YANG: The justices ruled in three cases, two involving men who sued after they said 03:49.400 --> 03:51.366 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% they were fired for being gay. 03:51.366 --> 03:56.366 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Skydiving instructor Don Zarda was fired in 2010 after telling a female client who was 03:58.433 --> 04:01.633 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% about to strapped to him for a jump that he was gay. After Zarda died in a 2014 accident, 04:04.100 --> 04:07.966 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% his case was pressed by his partner, William Moore, and by Melissa Zarda, his younger sister. 04:09.866 --> 04:12.566 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% MELISSA ZARDA, Sister of Don Zarda: It was a double standard. If he would have casually 04:12.566 --> 04:16.500 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% mentioned his wife while he was on a skydive, nothing would have happened. And he felt like 04:16.500 --> 04:19.033 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% he mentioned his husband and he got fired for it. 04:19.033 --> 04:23.200 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% So, not only was it really painful for him, but that he never wanted anybody else to go 04:23.200 --> 04:25.233 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% through anything like this. 04:25.233 --> 04:28.233 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JOHN YANG: The other case involved Gerald Bostock, who was fired from a county job in 04:28.233 --> 04:30.766 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% Georgia after he joined a gay softball team. 04:30.766 --> 04:35.766 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% GERALD BOSTOCK, Plaintiff: I did nothing wrong. And now I have some validation in that, by 04:37.866 --> 04:39.833 align:left position:25%,start line:86.67% size:75% the opinion that was given today. 04:39.833 --> 04:44.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JOHN YANG: The transgender rights case was brought by Aimee Stephens, who was dismissed 04:44.100 --> 04:49.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% from a Michigan funeral home after she told her boss she would begin living as a woman. 04:51.000 --> 04:54.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% The company said she failed to follow the dress code. Stephens died of kidney failure 04:56.266 --> 04:59.333 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% last month after seeing her case argued before the justices in October. Today, her wife, 05:00.533 --> 05:04.866 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% Donna, issued a two-word statement: "We won." 05:06.966 --> 05:10.266 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% Transgender rights will likely remain an issue in federal courts for a little while. On Friday, 05:10.266 --> 05:15.266 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% the Trump administration eliminated protections for transgender patients against discrimination 05:17.300 --> 05:21.433 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% by doctors, hospitals and insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act. 05:22.866 --> 05:25.133 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% The lawsuits against that have already been announced -- Judy. 05:25.133 --> 05:29.533 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% JUDY WOODRUFF: A lot to pore through, to dig through today. 05:29.533 --> 05:34.533 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% John, so as the court comes toward the -- closer to the end of this term, they are already 05:36.600 --> 05:39.100 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% beginning to set the agenda for next term. And what were you able to learn about that 05:39.100 --> 05:41.200 align:left position:37.5%,start line:93.33% size:62.5% today? 05:41.200 --> 05:44.400 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% JOHN YANG: Well, we learned three hot-button issues that they will not be taking up, which 05:44.400 --> 05:49.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% only means that there were four justices -- there were not at least four justices willing to 05:50.500 --> 05:52.800 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% take up those cases, those issues. 05:52.800 --> 05:57.800 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% One is gun laws. There were about a dozen gun laws being challenged, and gun rights 05:59.833 --> 06:04.833 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% advocates were hoping this conservative court would take them up. The court turned them 06:06.766 --> 06:10.033 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% all down. That -- draw a little bit of a rebuke from Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for 06:12.400 --> 06:15.400 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% himself and Justice Kavanaugh. He said: "Surely, this court would take up restrictions on free 06:17.300 --> 06:21.600 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% speech or," he pointedly added, "restrictions on the right to an abortion, access to an 06:23.566 --> 06:27.666 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% abortion. But today, faced with the petition challenging a restriction on citizens' Second 06:29.266 --> 06:32.466 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% Amendment rights," he wrote, "the court simply looked the other way." 06:32.466 --> 06:37.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Another issue that is getting a lot of attention now because of the police shootings and cases 06:39.400 --> 06:42.666 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% of excessive force by police is the doctrine of qualified immunity. This is a decades-old 06:44.700 --> 06:48.866 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% idea that the Supreme Court has said that police officers and other government officials 06:50.900 --> 06:54.200 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% cannot be sued in civil court unless they clearly violate the law or violate some clear 06:54.933 --> 06:57.466 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5% constitutional standard. 06:57.466 --> 07:02.466 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% By coincidence, because all these cases were sent to the court before, there were about 07:04.900 --> 07:07.700 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% eight cases that were being asked -- the court was being asked to reconsider this doctrine. 07:08.566 --> 07:11.133 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100% They turned them all down. 07:11.133 --> 07:14.900 align:left position:0%,start line:73.33% size:100% And finally, state sanctuary laws. The court today rejected a bid from the Trump administration 07:17.400 --> 07:22.400 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% to review a California sanctuary state law that forbids state law enforcement officials 07:25.033 --> 07:29.566 align:left position:12.5%,start line:73.33% size:87.5% from providing certain information to federal immigration officials. They said they are 07:29.566 --> 07:32.166 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100% not going to review that, so that law stands. 07:32.166 --> 07:37.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% Judy, the justices usually like to wrap up their business by the end of June. But, because 07:37.000 --> 07:42.000 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% of time they lost because of the pandemic and the early days of the pandemic, they say 07:43.200 --> 07:45.266 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% they may be working into July this year. 07:45.266 --> 07:49.900 align:left position:0%,start line:80% size:100% JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we will be looking out for that, John Yang, reporting not just on 07:51.466 --> 07:54.100 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5% what the justices ruled on, but what they have declined to rule on. 07:54.100 --> 07:55.933 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5% A lot on your plate. Thank you, John.