On the Supreme Court's Emergency Docket, Sharp Partisan Divides

[In It to Win It]

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Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh says good judges are like good referees.

“Am I calling it the same way for labor and management, for the business and the environmental interests, for the Republican and the Democrat?” he asked at a judicial conference over the summer. “If you can’t look in the mirror and say, ‘I would do the exact same thing if the parties were flipped,’ then you’re not being a good judge, just like you wouldn’t be a good referee if you were favoring one team over the other.”

A look at the court’s record in emergency rulings does not appear to reflect Justice Kavanaugh’s goal.

Thanks to Adam Liptak for including my thoughts on this piece on the shadow docket - which will hopefully paint a clear picture of what’s going on for those who don’t follow the court regularly www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/u...

— Leah Litman (@leahlitman.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T21:40:21.422Z

This data about the highly partisan nature of the Roberts Court's manipulation of the shadow docket won't be surprising to honest Court watchers, but it's good to have it presented this clearly to a mainstream audience, which happens less than it should www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/09/empi...

— Scott Lemieux (@lemieuxlgm.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T21:11:00.978Z