Court announces cases it will hear in December, including challenges to the constitutionality of bans on AR

The Supreme Court will hear a pair of challenges to the constitutionality of bans on AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles on Dec. 2. The oral arguments in Viramontes v. Cook County, which has been consolidated with Grant v. Higgins, headline the December argument calendar, which was released on Friday afternoon. Other highlights of the December argument session include cases involving the rights of parents to bring a lawsuit challenging a state law on care for runaway teens and Arizona election laws. The justices will hear seven separate arguments during the six days of the December argument session, which runs from Monday, Nov. 30, until Wednesday, Dec. 2, and then again from Monday, Dec. 7, until Wednesday, Dec. 9. Cutberto Viramontes filed the challenge to the ban on semiautomatic rifles in Cook County, Illinois, while gun owners and gun-rights groups challenged a similar law that Connecticut passed in the wake of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. In both cases, the lower courts upheld the bans against arguments that they violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms, prompting the challengers to come to the Supreme Court in 2025. After repeatedly considering the cases at their private conferences, the justices finally agreed on June 30 to weigh in. In International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson, on Dec. 7, the justices will consider whether parents have a right to challenge Washington state laws allowing runaway teens to receive mental health care and treatment (including as to gender transitions of their children) at licensed shelters without parental consent. And on Dec. 8, the justices will hear oral argument in Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, a challenge to Arizona’s requirement that applicants using the state’s voter-registration form provide proof that they are U.S. citizens, which also raises the question whether a federal law, the National Voter Registration Act, allows states to remove noncitizens from its voting rolls within 90 days of a federal election. The December argument schedule Crowther v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (Nov. 30): Whether employees can bring lawsuits for sex discrimination under a federal law that applies to schools that receive federal funding. Wassily v. Blanche (Nov. 30): Whether noncitizens who receive asylum but whose asylum is later terminated can become lawful permanent residents or are instead always ineligible. Jouppi v. Alaska (Dec. 1): Whether the forfeiture of a $95,000 airplane – because a passenger was bringing beer into an Alaskan village where alcohol is prohibited – violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines. Viramontes v. Cook County (consolidated with Grant v. Higgins) (Dec. 2): Whether bans on AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. International Partners for Ethical Care v. Ferguson (Dec. 7): Whether parents have a legal right to sue, known as standing, to challenge state laws that (among other things) allow runaway minors seeking gender-transition treatments to be referred for services without parental notice or consent. Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota (Dec. 8): A dispute over (among other things) Arizona’s requirement of proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. Grand v. City of University Heights (Dec. 9): A religious-discrimination lawsuit brought by an Orthodox Jewish man against city officials who told him he needed a permit to host a prayer group in his home. Recommended Citation: Amy Howe, Court announces cases it will hear in December, including challenges to the constitutionality of bans on AR-15s, SCOTUSblog (Sep. 4, 2026, 2:14 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/court-announces-cases-it-will-hear-in-december-including-challenges-to-the-constitutionality-of-/