JALSA Statement on SCOTUS Decisions on Student Loan Forgiveness and LGBTQ+ Access in Public Accommodations

Statement of Cindy Rowe, Executive Director, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA)
On Today’s Supreme Court Decisions on Student Loan Forgiveness and
LGBTQ+ Access in Public Accommodations
June 30, 2023

The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court continued its alarming trend today handing down decisions that create real harm for already vulnerable and marginalized populations.

The decision to cancel the Biden Administration’s plan to reduce the student loan debt burden creates new financial pain for millions across America, including more than half a million in Massachusetts. The decision is a harmful blow toward achieving greater wealth equity and enabling lower- and middle-income households to have a firmer grasp on financial stability.

The decision to provide businesses with a license to discriminate in the name of religion is tragically corrosive. The decision undermines the equal treatment of all people in our society and the freedom to live as our true, authentic selves. Faith values should not be used as an excuse to divide people in a needlessly cruel fashion.

As with yesterday’s harmful decision dismantling affirmative access in higher education, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA) condemns these decisions that target vulnerable and marginalized populations, take away rather than protect individual rights, and make it more difficult for people to thrive in America.