In a year marred by ethics scandals, 4 Supreme Court rulings let marginalized Americans down

The U.S. Supreme Court spent much of 2023 embroiled in scandal as a slew of reports exposed the ethical lapses of two of its most senior justices. The court rejected the request in a 5-4 vote — with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the liberal justices in dissenting — ruling that the 1868 treaty that established the Navajo Reservation in the Colorado River Basin as the tribe's "permanent home" did not require the U.S. to make efforts toward securing the tribe's water. "But it contained no ‘rights-creating or duty-imposing’ language that imposed a duty on the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe.” Related Supreme Court leaves Navajo Nation high and dry According to ProPublica, the Navajo Nation filed the suit in 2003 in hopes of pushing the federal government to move more quickly in helping to settle its water rights as guaranteed by treaties and court cases. "Today, the Court rejects a request the Navajo Nation never made," Gorsuch wrote in the dissent, asserting that the nation simply asked the United States to identify the water rights it holds for them. The Supreme Court's decision sparked outcry among civil rights groups and Democratic leaders, with many arguing that the ruling denies Black and brown youth equal opportunity in their pursuit of higher education.