shadow docket

Noun

shadow docket (plural shadow dockets)

1. (US) The cases resolved by the US Supreme Court that do not involve briefing, oral argument, or full judicial opinions.
   • This is not very surprising given that overall confidence in the court has been slipping for the better part of the past decade. But the precipitous drop in the court’s popularity particularly in recent years is worth noting. Based on the poll, the court experienced a major additional blow to its...2026 March 12, Kimberly Atkins Stohr, “One thing voters agree on: They don’t like the Supreme Court”, in The Boston Globe, retrieved 22 Apr 2026
   • By a 5-to-4 vote along partisan lines, the order halted President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, his signature environmental policy. They acted before any other court had addressed the plan’s lawfulness. The decision consisted of only legal boilerplate, without a word of reasoning. At the time...2026 April 18, Jodi Kantor, Adam Liptak, “The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court”, in The New York Times, retrieved 22 Apr 2026