- The Supreme Court has a process that allows litigants in federal cases to request temporary rulings on what should happen while their case works its way through the system, which can take years, and this process requires five votes among the nine justices and the request must meet certain criteria, including that the applicants would suffer irreparable harm if it's not granted 10s.
- The term "irreparable harm" sets a very high bar, which is why the docket's main use was initially in cases where someone's execution was imminent and their lawyers were arguing that the client was innocent or there were problems in the process, and the Supreme Court might grant a stay of execution 1m26s.
- The shadow docket is being used by the Trump administration for a lot more than just death penalty cases, as they will now run to the Supreme Court and ask them to rule in their favor if a lower court issues a ruling that they don't like, such as pausing an executive action until it's been fully litigated 2m42s.
- The Trump administration has been using the shadow docket in record numbers, with the federal government seeking emergency rulings in a high number of cases, and the court has been agreeing with them, allowing the administration to implement policies such as cutting grants to universities, dismissing transgender service members, and refusing to spend congressionally appointed foreign aid 3m40s.
- The use of the shadow docket has empowered some of Trump's worst policies, and it has become his go-to method to get his way, with one former solicitor general saying that the docket has swallowed the court in terms of workload and practical importance 5m10s.
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The Shadow Docket & The Death Penalty #lastweektonight
Law17 May 20261 min summaryFrom LastWeekTonight
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