The Supreme Court’s Era of Meaningless Rights

IdeasThe Supreme Court’s Era of Meaningless RightsThe Supreme Court is not saying people don’t have certain rights, just that no courts can help them when those rights are violated.By Leah LitmanIllustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic. Sources: Getty.June 26, 2026, 1:52 PM ET ShareSave The six Republican appointees on the Supreme Court have made one thing clear: People may have rights, but in many cases they have no way to enforce them. Four decisions released this week have that paradox at their core.Two of them, both issued Tuesday, held that the plaintiffs lacked “causes of action”—the legal authorization to sue to vindicate their federal rights. In Cisco v.

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