The court's 6-3 conservative majority has become increasingly assertive, as evidenced by its rulings last term overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide and expanding gun rights.

President Joe Biden's appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson — the first Black woman justice — joins its liberal bloc after being confirmed by the Senate in April to replace now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer. Jackson becomes the sixth woman justice ever. For the first time, four women will serve on the court together — Jackson, Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

It is on the first Monday in October annually that the court gets back to work hearing cases. The justices on Monday are scheduled to hear arguments in a case that could limit the scope of a landmark federal environmental law — the Clean Water Act of 1972 — as they consider for a second time a married Idaho couple's bid to build on property that the U.S. government has deemed a protected wetland.

Chantell and Mike Sackett, who planned to build a home on their property in Priest Lake, Idaho, are appealing a lower court's ruling favoring the government. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 determined that the property was part of a wetland and that the Sacketts were required to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act before beginning construction, which they had failed to do.

There has been litigation and political debates over how much of a connection with a waterway a property must have in order to require such a permit. A 2006 Supreme Court ruling led to further uncertainty. The new case gives the conservative majority an opportunity to embrace an approach favored by business groups, with a ruling due by the end of June.

On Nov. 7, the Supreme Court will hear two cases concerning the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Court has become increasingly skeptical of the power of administrative agencies in recent years, and, in its last term, curtailed the authority of the EPA on climate change and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on its oversight of COVID-19 in the workplace, the New York Times reports.

Both of the upcoming agency cases are about how long they must litigate disputes before they may be heard in a federal court. The FTC case, Axon Enterprise v. Federal Trade Commission, concerns a firm that manufactures body cameras for law enforcement. The Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cochran case is about an accountant the SEC accuses of misconduct.

On Nov. 8, the Supreme Court will hear Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, which concerns whether corporations must agree to be sued in a state's courts as a condition of doing business in that state. The Court has long ruled that corporations can be sued where they are incorporated or have their headquarters.

On Nov. 11, the Supreme Court will hear National Pork Producers Council v. Ross. This case seeks to challenge a California law that requires pigs bred for pork be housed in spaces that permit them to move freely, i.e. in a pen with 24 feet rather than 14 feet of space.

Then there are two cases concerning affirmative action admission programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Those who defend these programs say that if they are upended, there would be fewer highly credentialed minority candidates for these universities to consider.

Finally, the Supreme Court will consider a case where a Colorado web designer seeks to refuse creating websites celebrating same-sex marriages. Colorado has a law prohibiting businesses from discriminating on sex and other categories.