Neil Gorsuch is now officially a member of the US Supreme Court, and the 49-year-old's impact is expected to be both immediate and long-lasting. Gorsuch officially gets to work on Monday, in time to hear important cases for the current term and to help weigh in on which cases will be heard in the next one. Here's a look:
- The court will hear a case April 19 that may be the most significant of the term, writes Lyle Denniston at Constitution Daily. In Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, a Missouri church is suing for the right to use state funds to improve a kids' playground. It's seen as one of the biggest church-state cases in a while.
- Also on the court's radar are various challenges to President Trump's travel ban, reports ABC News in its Gorsuch primer.
- A preview at the BBC includes an upcoming gun rights case (Peruta v. San Diego) about people's rights to carry concealed weapons in public places.
- Gorsuch cannot vote on any cases argued before he became a justice, but if any of those cases end up 4-4, the court could order them re-argued before the full, nine-member panel, notes NBC News.