The legendary baseball player and manager Ted Williams once wrote a letter to the Angels outfielder Jay Johnstone on improving his hitting. Among his pieces of advice was that “with two strikes, you simply have to protect the plate.”
Williams’s advice on not striking out came to mind this week when another leak of confidential information rocked the Supreme Court. (The prior leak of the Dobbs decision went unsolved). For Chief Justice John Roberts, the message is clear: it is a time like this when you have to protect the plate.
Roberts, of course, is famous for his own baseball analogies. In his confirmation, he declared that “judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them…Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.”
Yet, justices do make rules not only in new precedent, but in the operation of the court system. Those rules are being broken.
In the same week as the new leak, Justice Sonia Sotomayor attacked her colleague Brett Kavanaugh as essentially an out-of-touch prig who had never even met an hourly wage worker. It was an unfair insult and a departure from the Court’s long-standing rules of civility. (Sotomayor later apologized).
Additionally, a forthcoming book by Mollie Hemingway on Justice Samuel Alito contains an embarrassing account of how Justice Elena Kagan allegedly screamed at Justice Stephen Breyer so loudly before the Dobbs opinion that the “wall was shaking.” (The book suggests that Kagan was upset with Breyer agreeing to spur along the dissents to get out the final opinions in light of rising threats against conservative colleagues after the leak).
For an institution that prides itself on its confidentiality and insularity, the Court is looking increasingly porous and partisan in these leaks. Worse yet, people are indeed coming to the Court “to see the umpires.”
The most recent leak was published by the New York Times, which was given internal memos from various Supreme Court justices on the use of what is known as the “shadow docket” to issue rulings without oral arguments.
Notably, the leaks occurred after a controversial speech by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at Yale Law School in which she denounced the use of the shadow docket by her conservative colleagues to release decisions that were sometimes “utterly irrational.”
The memos reveal the concern of the justices that the Environmental Protection Agency was effectively gaming the system, imposing unlawful regulatory burdens on electric utilities despite a countervailing earlier ruling in Michigan v. EPA.
Chief Justice Roberts noted that the EPA was using the ongoing litigation to force utilities to spend billions of dollars to comply with the new regulations: “In other words the absence of stay allowed the agency to effectively implement an important program we held to be contrary to law.”
The controversy over the use of the shadow docket is immaterial to this story. The most immediate concern for Roberts should be that this is strike two: another leak from within the Court that was clearly designed to wound some of its members.
Unlike the Dobbs leak (which appeared to be an effort to influence the final opinion), this is a leak about a decade-old case. It had a purely malicious purpose to embarrass or disrupt the Court.
The question, again, is the identity of the culprit. There is no reason to assume that the same person was involved in both leaks. Rather, the leaks appear to reflect a deteriorating culture at the Court.
After the Dobbs leak, Chief Justice Roberts launched a fruitless investigation through the federal marshals to find the responsible person. The use of the marshals as the lead investigators (rather than the FBI) was criticized at the time. Roberts may have been sensitive to an executive-branch agency rooting around in the highest court of a sister branch.
The result was the worst possible outcome. The culprit succeeded in both leaking the opinion and evading any accountability.
The fact is that the Court’s culture and institutional identity have always been its greatest protection of confidentiality. In a city that floats on a rolling sea of leaks, the Court was an island of integrity and civility. The “umpires” could call balls and strikes without playing the leak game.
That culture is fast becoming nothing but a relic in the wake of yet another major leak. For the future of the Court and the faith of the public, Roberts has to set his reservations aside and bring in the FBI to find the culprit. Most importantly, he has to guarantee total transparency in allowing the public to see the results wherever they may lead. In other words, with two strikes, Roberts needs to protect the plate.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution
This column ran on Fox.com
Could anyone at all tell us which part of Iran touches the Atlantic Ocean?
“NATO” stands for “North Atlantic Treaty Organization”. The “Atlantic” part of this secret code word stands for the Atlantic Ocean.
Why would NATO be involved in non-Atlantic nations?
Idiot.
The NATO alliance is a purely defensive pact whereby the nations agree to come to the defense of any member nation that is attacked, regardless of which country is the attacker.
The ONLY time the treaty has ever been invoked is on September 12, 2001 when every nation came to the defense of the US when it was attacked by Al Qaeda, and every nation helped with the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The word Atlantic is there simply because most of the member nations border the North Atlantic.
However, the NATO treaty does not oblige members to become involved in wars that are STARTED by any other member nation.
Hence, no other NATO nation wants to get involved in this war with Iran that was STARTED by the US.
“. . . this war with Iran that was STARTED by the US.”
On October 7, the *Iranian* terrorist group, Hamas, kidnapped and murdered some 60 *Americans*.
And there is no such thing as *starting* a war against a dictatorship — which by its nature is at war against its own citizens and neighbors.
Care to try again, “useful idiot?”
The problem is these countries pretend to be allies. We had no obligation to be involved in Ukraine but we are.
You’re correct, anon. NATO is North Atlantic, right.
Iran touches the Atlantic Ocean at Turkey.
“Why would NATO be involved in non-Atlantic nations?”
Why are 17 non-Atlantic nations members of NATO?
Based on TNYT article regarding the first shadow docket decision, Cheif Justice Roberts ought to be impeached and convisted.
Chief Roberts convicted with a twist?
– D.B. Benson of the Great Northwest
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I LIKE IT!!! At least you’re on the right track. You go, boy!
Who failed to strike down progressiveism?
None other than the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
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“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to America”
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to AmericaThomas said that the values enshrined in the 1776 Declaration of Independence have ‘fallen out of favor’ among Americans.” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Wednesday delivered a televised broadside against progressivism, a political philosophy he described as an existential threat to America and the principles that founded it 250 years ago. ‘Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government,’ Thomas said in a speech at the University of Texas Austin Law School pegged to the nation’s upcoming milestone birthday. A spirit of ‘cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus’ toward America — by Americans — has taken hold, Thomas said in remarks carried live on CSPAN.”
– ABC News
We’ve been exposed to many conditions we’ve not seen as Americans since the year 2000. A big take-away is the reason the founders put religion in 1A. We’ve seen the totalitarian political system as Theocracy and slavery it causes. We’ve seen a combination of religion and monarchy, as well and the slavery it creates. By slavery I mean a loss of free will and imposition of conduct and speech without redress.
Thanks
^^^ We’ve also seen the debaucle in elections and voting. The problem appears to be the 2 party system with campaign finance.
Mail ballots are being gathered and marked or flyers with the ballot as to choices. A random selection of ballots and blind questioning of voters to determine if the registrant actually voted. As few as 100 ballots should be adequate.
Using strategies to glean votes isn’t democracy. It’s a game of football.
There is NO ONE more hate filled, bias, greedy, selfish, lying, cheating, violent, racist, hypocrite than Democrats
REMOVE these incompotent women!
It’s the fruits of AA.
If we can be certain of anything, we can be absolutely positive that our courts are thoroughly corrupt. No one holds judges accountable. No one investigates the influences paying them to decide cases. We assume all is on the level. (How dumb can anyone be?) We make assumptions without investigations about nothing else. The press hunts for corruption 24/7 in everything except our courts. They don’t want to subject themselves to the forces that rule our land like nothing ever has. Judges and their brethren in the second most corrupt institution in the world, lawyering, will bleed anyone who inquires about accountability, to death. They will tie them up in cost prohibitive proceedings and force them to pay penalties that will destroy them.
Remember Operation Greylord? “through undercover operations… and local police—92 officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, eight policemen, 10 deputy sheriffs, eight court officials, and one state legislator. Nearly all were convicted, most of them pleading guilty.”
People were stunned at the depth of the corruption. GREYLORD was a brief look at a tiny portion of our judicial system. It was nothing. Remember the Luzerne Judges who went to prison? Chicken feed.
Which is why we need Turley to champion a nationwide, in-depth, no holds barred examination of the organization that makes the mafia look like small potatoes. He is the only one who could pull it off.
Canon 1 (Code of Conduct for US Judges): States that “A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary”.
Canon 2: Focuses on avoiding “Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in all Activities”.
Canon 2A (Commentary): Explicitly notes that “Public confidence in the judiciary is eroded by irresponsible or improper conduct by judges”.
Purpose: The canons hold that public confidence is essential, and judges are expected to accept restrictions on their behavior to ensure that trust, which ACTS AS THE BEDROCK FOR THE RULE OF LAW.
(We are in grave danger.)
The kicker? Lawyers and judges hold each other accountable.
Dear GOD.
Leaking is not upholding. We ARE in grave danger. sabotage and vandals from within. That’s what the leaks are; a terrorist attack on our system. Desperate people do desperate things.
Secrecy in government is the greatest threat to freedom.
But the “shadow docket” is not secret, it’s orders are published. The internal deliberations are secret, but that is true of all court proceedings, not just those on the shadow docket.
As I mentioned below, “shadow docket” may be a misnomer. The only difference between the normal appeal docket is that the media pays less attention to it.
“the “shadow docket””
Hmmm. It just occurred to me to wonder about a possible remedy to the flagrantly unconstitutional decisions by some district court judges. It is established that only Congress has power to discipline a Federal judge, through the impeachment process; AFAIK there is no hierarchical authority for SCOTUS to take any direct action beyond overturning decisions and possibly manipulating the court schedule to deny those judges important (or, I suppose, any) cases. But I was wondering if, in theory, SCOTUS could declare that all future decisions by one of those judges (e.g. Boastberg) are pre-emptively and summarily overturned and denied force of law? Such an announcement might leave the judge with no viable alternative but to resign.
GRASSLEY: Director Patel, since 2021, I’ve raised concerns about the Biden administration’s failure to properly vet Afghan evacuees. Director Gabbard informed my office that as of August 2022, approximately 1,600 evacuees located in the United States had ties to terrorism or other derogatory information. That’s why I, and many others, have opposed bills giving blanket approval.
Old man from kansas, in Constitutional rulings why should deliberations be held in secrecy? Shouldn’t we have the right to see all the correspondence in the individuals reasoning?
GW – It’s a good question. It’s similar to jury deliberations being secret. There has to be confidentiality to resist public pressures and allow for full and frank internal discussions between the judges.
AI overview: Appellate court deliberations are kept confidential to promote frank, open, and candid discussions among judges, ensuring judicial independence and the integrity of the decision-making process. This secrecy protects the court from external pressures, allows for the exploration of all legal angles, and ensures decisions are based solely on law, not public opinion.
Key Reasons for Confidentiality:
– Frank Exchange of Views: Judges can discuss, debate, and change their minds freely without fear that their preliminary thoughts will be publicly criticized.
– Judicial Independence: It prevents outside influence or political pressure, allowing judges to act as impartial arbiters of the law.
– Institutional Integrity: It ensures that the final opinion represents the court’s official position, rather than exposing the messy, often contentious negotiation process behind the scenes.
– Finality of Decisions: It prevents constant, public second-guessing of a judge’s thought process leading up to a ruling, focusing public attention on the final judgment.
While final opinions are public, the private deliberations protect the intellectual freedom of the appellate panel.
P.S. Confidentiality of internal deliberations applies to all rulings, constitutional and statutory.
During my tenure, we are going through the databases to make sure that no known or suspected terrorists enter this country to harm our nation… One of the first acts we undertook was a manhunt of one of the Abbey Gate bombers and leaders in the crime spree that killed 13 brave Americans. And within two weeks, we caught one of the leaders of the Abbey Gate bombing and brought him to justice here from Pakistan.
KASH
What did Biden do?
well, we DON’T have that right. at least i don’t see it anywhere.
BTW, coincidently, the left is always imagining rights that don’t exist and are divisive.
its
The reasoning is not published and there is no input that is publicly viewable.
GRASSLEY: I’ve done a lot of oversight relating to sexual misconduct by FBI agents… According to the FBI Inspection Division, it opened nearly 300 investigations based on sexual misconduct referrals between 2017-2024. According to whistleblowers, the Biden-Wray FBI totally dropped the ball on this question.
Off Topic:
Trump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins
DiGenova has repeatedly accused Brennan of misconduct tied to the origins of the Russia probe
By: Amanda Macias Fox News ~ April 19, 2026
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-ally-digenova-tapped-lead-doj-probe-brennan-over-russia-probe-origins
I laughed until tears after reading your post,, Car-ma when you stand in the street you could get run over.
Your karma ran over my dogma.
Hear Hear to Joe DiGenova Getting Involved…!! WHY? so we can FINALLY get to and expose The Bottom… we are sick and tired of this Obama posse of ‘Intel’ Agents (and Blinken..) Never being held legally acountable for their Actions.. and when Joe is done with this Project. he can tackle the Obama/Axelrod project re: their Actions’ influencing the Pope to get involved in US Policy in the Middle East, against the USA and its duly elected Administration… Obama’s Shadow Government has become like a Giant Squid, with tenacles everywhere.. as seen by his 24/7 TV & Internet appearances working to gerrymander VIRGINIA.
Yeah Yeah Yeah … but the Teflon-Granny (Hillary) still walks way from it unscathed.
Now we are seeing the fallout of the first generation that grew up with the internet. I am not sure if it is releasing information to try and change opinions or a middle finger to those that rule in a way some do not like. I am personally torn on the release. I am no fan of releasing prior to judgement and that should be prosecuted if a law was broken. But releasing an argument long after the fact for a book is not as egregious to my thinking. I get the Court wants the privacy and not all conversations heated or not need to be displayed. Yet it does provide a glimpse into a secretive society. Kagan gets outed this time, but in the past Scalia was outed too with yelling. They are human.
I am much more concerned about comments made in public by Justices frustrated with cases not going their way. Those comments need to be toned down because it is hurting the Court and fanning the rage. It may not be the Justices intention at all, but it is not helping the overall appearance.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
Couldn’t disagree more strongly. While all of the branches of the federal government have their problems, the judicial branch has by and large performed better than the others. Of course the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions and it is certainly not immune to political pressure. But overall, the Justices and the vast majority of federal judges have tried their best to apply the law fairly and impartially. In this respect, they provide an invaluable check on the other branches which are far more susceptible to the political winds of the day.
Roe v Wade
Refute below.
Sorry to disagree with you, but I have seen nothing but one sided and ILLEGAL decisions by obviously leftest Federal Judges, particularity in DC, that do anything and everything to throw a monkey wrench into anything TRUMP! Also, if a Democrat Intel agent or other Gubmint employee gets charged with anything, it is never more than a slap on the wrist! Republican’s GO TO JAIL on trumped up charges that Democrats never get charged for when they commit the same offense… And EVERYBODY in DC knows this!
And when someone is convicted in federal court of trying to assassinate a conservative justice, the US district judge gives him a slap on the wrist. He’ll probably get a full pardon from the next Dem president, who will reason that trying to assassinate a conservative justice was justified as a means of protecting abortion. It’s all part of that culture of death on the Left that left the assassination of Charlie Kirk and two attempts on the life of the Dem candidate’s main rival.
If you think the courts are so bad: Angels if you compare them to congress and it’s rapists and crooks.
Our courts ooze with corruption. Lawyers, bribing judges, take billions in corrupt judicial rulings from which they take their cut. The vast majority of Americans have absolutely no idea how bad they are. None.
GRASSLEY: Through my and other investigations, we found that the Biden administration lost thousands of undocumented children. We never heard a peep from [Democrat] senators wanting to help find them even after I invited them to do so.
Wrong. The opposite. They are consistently the last stalwart of our glorious constitution when other branches run roughshod.
YOU are the singular American failure. MAGA!
You might refute this except for the fact that you cannot because these points are irrefutable:
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You don’t say. In 1791, there was no power to establish, tax for, fund, or regulate a national bank, but the Supreme Court failed to strike it down, then or in 1819, and in 1913 there was no legal basis for the Federal Reserve Act, and yet, there it is.
In 1860, secession was prohibited because secession is not prohibited while “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” and the Supreme Court failed to ensure the implementation of and “support,” its sworn duty, the Constitution, understanding that secession is not prohibited and is fully constitutional per fundamental law, which aligns with the reservation to return to the sovereignty of pre-Constitution status in the documents of ratification of the Constitution of several states.
Social Security, Medicare et al. enjoy absolutely NO legal basis in the Constitution, while some weak and preposterous linkage to “general Welfare” is used, understanding that “general” means “all” or “the whole” and those colossal programs serve only 18.7% of the population.
All of these dictatorial and redistribution vehicles must have been struck down by the Supreme Court with extreme prejudice, and in lieu, the Supreme Court effectively acted to, quite literally, “make the rules” through corrupt and high criminal omission.
America was never intended to be a tyrannical communist state, and yet here it is with central planning, control of the means of production, social engineering, and redistribution of wealth, all while strictly adhering to not the Constitution but Karl Marx’s maxim, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” because the Supreme Court endeavored mightily and omitted to “make the rules.”
“[J]udges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules; they apply them. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.”
– Chief Justice John Roberts
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You don’t say. In 1791, there was no power to establish, tax for, fund, or regulate a national bank, but the Supreme Court failed to strike it down, then or in 1819, and in 1913 there was no legal basis for the Federal Reserve Act, and yet, there it is.
In 1860, secession was prohibited because secession is not prohibited while “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” and the Supreme Court failed to ensure the implementation of and “support,” its sworn duty, the Constitution, understanding that secession is not prohibited and is fully constitutional per fundamental law, which aligns with the reservation to return to the sovereignty of pre-Constitution status in the documents of ratification of the Constitution of several states.
Social Security, Medicare et al. enjoy absolutely NO legal basis in the Constitution, while some weak and preposterous linkage to “general Welfare” is used, understanding that “general” means “all” or “the whole” and those colossal programs serve only 18.7% of the population.
All of these dictatorial and redistribution vehicles must have been struck down by the Supreme Court with extreme prejudice, and in lieu, the Supreme Court effectively acted to, quite literally, “make the rules” through corrupt and high criminal omission.
America was never intended to be a tyrannical communist state, and yet here it is with central planning, control of the means of production, social engineering, and redistribution of wealth, all while strictly adhering to not the Constitution but Karl Marx’s maxim, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” because the Supreme Court endeavored mightily and omitted to “make the rules.”
“… The “umpires” could call balls and strikes without playing the leak game.”
That was yesteryear, today we live in a world of ‘compromising’ others to gain.
In every aspect of our lives there are those Individuals that ‘compromise’ others to gain the satisfaction they desire.
It has become a pervasive aptitude of learned behavior (survival); inside the Family, inside the Work environment, inside the Social network, inside the open Society, and yes the Government (inside the SCOTUS).
Ernest-Competition has been replaced by ‘Compromising-Tactical’ strategies. Attacking your opponent instead of fairly competing with them is now fair game. There is nothing like a well planted ‘Stab-in-the-Back’ to gain what you want, even for the minutest thing. It’s the Totality of the strikes that will take the toll upon the Opponent, least they quit.
This is a much bigger problem than John Roberts could possible tackle. Life under the Rotunda has become the Wild West.
ret.: It’s not about the ability to pull the Trigger (Leak Info), it’s about the ability to make a Morally Correct Decision (by making argument(s) of Just-Impact).
AI.: ( What is a just decision? )
A just decision is a fair, impartial, and morally sound resolution that adheres to ethical, legal, or reasonable standards. It represents a “righteous judgment” or “fair ruling” that properly balances interests and gives individuals what they deserve. A just decision is often characterized as unbiased, legitimate, and equitable.
During the 2016 campaign Trump told The Washington Post and other outlets that he could “get rid of the $19 trillion in debt” “over a period of eight years,”
Yep, how’d that turn out?
Trump increased the debt by $1 trillion in just the past 6 months. The current debt sits at $39 trillion. And a big chunk of that is due to trump.
Lier much?
But hey, at least we get to grab em by the pussy.
I guess that is great if you the one grabbing, but what about the person that has their pussy grabbed?
“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’.”
– Genesis 1:28 (NKJV)
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I don’t see any qualifications on the instruction which was given to “them,” men and women.
She may like it.
“God said to them (i.e. man and woman), ‘Be fruitful and multiply.'”
Normal men and women frequently fantasize about pleasure; God made it so.
To deny and disparage “grabbing” is abnormal.
What’s a lier?? Is lying down?? MORON ANON
lier
noun
One who lies down; one who rests or remains, as in concealment.
A person or thing that lies, in the sense of being horizontal.
Common misspelling of liar.
The GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English • More at Wordnik
Professor, why did you miss the confidential memos Chief Justice Roberts sent to all judges lthat were leaked to NYT 1 1/2 month to 2024 Presidential election?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/justice-roberts-trump-supreme-court.html
There is nothing “shadowy” about the emergency docket. It is how the Supreme Court reviews lower court decisions about whether to grant a stay. A critical part of the test is whether the lower court decision on the merits is likely to survive Supreme Court review. If it isn’t, then ordering a stay is appropriate to avoid injustice, and in this case the incurrence of substantial compliance costs that would have made the likely unlawful EPA action a fait accompli. Refusing to act on the emergency docket simply allows lower court emergency docket decisions, and likely unlawful administrative actions, to prevail.
Wait! Where’s the Supreme Court? Please cite the Constitution for any legal basis for the Environmental Protection Agency, which appears to function as a second judicial branch whose jurisdiction extends, I had no idea, to outer space via the “Ozone Layer” et al.
Refusing to act on the emergency docket simply allows lower court emergency docket decisions, and likely unlawful administrative actions, to prevail.
===
Not true. There will be a ruling on the case, it may not be as fast as someone wanted, but there will be a ruling and “unlawful actions” will not prevail, they just won’t be addressed immediately. And they don’t need to 90% of the time.
In this case the companies would have had to comply with an unlawful order. But the time the decision would have been overturned on the merits it would have been too late since all the costs of compliance would have been incurred. As I said, it would have been a fait accompli for the EPA. In that sense it would have prevailed. That’s one of the main points Roberts made.
Fortune may favor the brave, but infamy favors the pusillanimous. Justice Roberts, in his desire to protect the Court, has injured it more than he realizes. He succumbed to political pressure on more than one instance, the ACA case being a prime example.
His leadership has been weak, as exemplified by the leaking, and unprofessional exchanges between Justices. If he truly loves the Court, he will resign as Chief Justice.
A comprehensive database review of the Court’s “shadow docket” appears here:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/684b0d6eef37da47ef9eeb03/t/6931a90037bef457141a20a8/1764862208366/kastellec_taboni_shadow_docket_data_paper.pdf
Of interest is Figure 9 on p. 20.
The above was published 5 months ago (December 2025) and follows a few contentious weeks of SCOTUS shadow-docket reversals,
“Dem-Appointed Federal Judges Are the Big Losers at Supreme Court This Week”
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/04/11/dem-appointed-federal-judges-big-losers-supreme-court-week/
It is noteworthy that Presidents Clinton and Obama have appointed more district court justices than any other presidents, according to Wikipedia’s summary, under “List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_judicial_appointments.”
The term “shadow docket” may be misleading. It’s really an emergency docket. The rulings are published, it’s just that the media don’t pay quite as much attention, which is not the court’s fault.
What’s the emergency .. . and why a ‘shadow docket’?
*if lower court rulings are the emergency . .. how does a SCOTUS ‘shadow docket’ address that?
Sometimes there are time sensitive matters that do not lend themselves to appeals in the ordinary course. The lawyers for a death row inmate might seek a stay of execution, to take one example. The idea is that sometimes (a) having to wait would lead to irreparable harm, (b) staying the action would not substantially harm the other side, and (c) there is a decent chance the lower court’s ruling was in error. That’s why an emergency docket exists.
Then the emergency SCOTUS ‘shadow docket’ has their work cut out for them. Lower courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally.
That doesn’t include ICE extrajudicial shootings/killings, deportations and other time-sensitive assaults on the U.S. constitutional. .. although, iirc, the Roberts court summary reversals have traditionally upheld the concept of qualified immunity.
*at this point, the SCOTUS could save a lot of time/effort going straight to the shadow docket. .. and cut out the middle man (ie. lower courts).
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/courts-have-ruled-4400-times-that-ice-jailed-people-illegally-it-hasnt-stopped-2026-02-14/
You site (actually just say) that ICE has jailed 4,400 people illegally without mentioning that Biden allowed in about 10 million people in only 3 1/2 years. The second half of the equation totally negates the “shock” of your first half.
Also, how many AMERICANS have been killed, raped, burgled, had their identity stolen or crashed into on the highway by the 10 million illegals (actually 20-20 million)? I would wager that it is far more than 4,400. But of course your only allegiance is to illegals and not to citizens just as the Dems showed us at the SOTU speech. But bravo!
Then the emergency SCOTUS ‘shadow docket’ has their work cut out for them.
Any docket at any court involves work. Like all appellate courts, Scotus has figured out how to manage its dockets. Managing an emergency docket does involve work, but not more than they can do. They decide which cases are actual emergencies, then of those, which ones should have a stay summarily denied, and which ones to grant a stay for. I’m not sure what your point is, besides just casting aspersions on ICE, which has nothing to do with how an appellate court manages its dockets.
(I thought shadow docket referred to the chin, cheek and neck area of Justices who were up all night contemplating their stances.)
Lin – 😂 they’ll have to find a new name for the docket when Scotus is majority female, which looks increasingly likely.
Who knows what evil lurks in the decisions of Justices…the Shadow knows.
The Supreme Court justices need to stop hiring clerks from the Ivy League. The Ivy League has gone almost full bore communist and they want to undermine completely our republican/capitalist system. One of there ways to do this is to leak stuff to try an embarass whomever. Personally, I don’t think this particular leak was embarrassing. Makes perfect sense to me that the court needs to use its shadow docket to prevent the deep state from enforcing unconstitutional regulation.
Yes it does make perfect sense. Which is why I asked earlier why Justice Jackson would say it was “utterly irrational.”
P.S. Justice Thomas is known to hire clerks from outside the Ivy League.
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to America”
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to AmericaThomas said that the values enshrined in the 1776 Declaration of Independence have ‘fallen out of favor’ among Americans.” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Wednesday delivered a televised broadside against progressivism, a political philosophy he described as an existential threat to America and the principles that founded it 250 years ago. ‘Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government,’ Thomas said in a speech at the University of Texas Austin Law School pegged to the nation’s upcoming milestone birthday. A spirit of ‘cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus’ toward America — by Americans — has taken hold, Thomas said in remarks carried live on CSPAN.”
– ABC News
Dear Prof Turley,
The job of Chief Justice Roberts is not to guard the plate .. . but make sure the game is not rigged.
Not sure a SCOTUS ‘shadow docket’ is the best way to call balls and strikes.
As I understand it, there is a vast log jam of court rulings against the tidal wave of Trump’s unitary executive actions. .. foreign and domestic.
Obviously, the SCOTUS would be consumed overturning them all. .. hence the ‘shadow docket’.
‘Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.’ ~ Casey at the Bat
Hey Snowden, go check out Judge Boasberg’s decisions and District Judge Murphy’s decisions in MA. Murphy went directly against whatthe Court demanded and therefore they have to hear from that issue again. THAT IS WHY THE SHADOW COURT IS HAPPENING.
The job of the Chief Justice is to SUPPORT the “manifest tenor” of the verbatim Constitution, not illicitly rewrite and amend it for the benefit of Karl Marx as “legislation from the bench.”
How much abridgement of the freedom of speech and press, infringement of the right to keep and bear arms et al. has occurred since 1789?
America exists under the Communist Manifesto, not the Constitution and Bill of Rights.