The Supreme Court is under renewed scrutiny after The New York Times published a trove of internal memos revealing how the court used its emergency "shadow docket" to decide major disputes quickly.
The memos show Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. pushed to halt President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan in February 2016, writing that the regulation could impose economic harms approaching $480 billion and was "highly unlikely to survive," as reported by The New York Times.
Justice Stephen Breyer questioned the rush, noting a circuit court had set a later hearing date, and Justice Elena Kagan called immediate action "unprecedented," according to the memos summarized by The New York Times.
The memos indicate Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito joined Roberts in seeking the stay, while Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan opposed it, and Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the decisive vote in support of the chief justice, as reported by The New York Times.
That five to four order contained minimal explanation, and the decision marked a turning point toward frequent emergency rulings, a trend the report links to later grants of more than 20 key victories for President Trump, measured by the Brennan Center, the article said.
Court Cases And Political Stakes
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge from the Archdiocese of Denver over Colorado’s state-funded preschool nondiscrimination rule, a case that confronts religion and access to public funds.
The archdiocese, which runs 34 preschools, says the rule forbids refusing admission based on a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity or those characteristics of a child’s parents, and that this conflicts with its First Amendment claims, according to reporting on the case.
The program stems from a 2020 statewide referendum that provides taxpayer funds for parents to send children to their preferred preschool, and the Trump administration filed a brief supporting the archdiocese, the coverage notes.
Archdiocese lawyers rely on the scope of the 1990 Employment Division v. Smith precedent, arguing the law does not apply equally because regulations allow priorities for disabled and low-income children, while the state says the nondiscrimination provision itself has no exemptions.
The archdiocese sued in 2023 and lost in federal district court and the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the reporting states, and a spokesman for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser declined to comment.
Separately, Senate Republicans privately say a retirement by Justice Samuel Alito could become an "October surprise" that mobilizes GOP voters, though they publicly avoid pressing him to step down, the reporting found.
Sen. John Cornyn said a vacancy "would be a galvanizing issue for Republicans," and strategist Brian Darling said a confirmation fight could change the midterm agenda, both as reported in coverage of Senate reaction.
The coverage recalls the 2018 confirmation fight over Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Mitch McConnell’s decision to leave Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat vacant until after the 2016 election, which the article links to later confirmations and political effects.
