Supreme Court signals it's feeling the heat amid backlash to 'shadow docket' rulings

The Supreme Court has started showing signs that justices are aware of the growing public frustration around its shadow docket, a New York Times reporter said Wednesday.

Jodi Kantor, a Times investigative reporter, told MS NOW's Katy Tur that mounting criticism of the conservative majority's court and its recent decisions — which sometimes have just one sentence — has revealed a shifting tone among the justices.

In her recent book, Justice Amy Coney Barrett acknowledged that the court sometimes doesn’t explain itself “because it doesn't feel ready to commit to reasoning,” Kantor said.

“But, you know, she acknowledges in the book that there are costs to operating that way. Oh, and I should say they've lately started to explain themselves a tiny bit more,” Kantor said. “You can feel them responding to the public frustration over the shadow docket. You know, the other problem with these shadow docket decisions, by the way, is that lower court judges sometimes don't know what to do because the Supreme Court, among many other things, is giving guidance to lower court judges about what exactly the law is. You know, the shape of it. But with some of these quickie orders, lower court judges have gotten very frustrated, saying, ‘I don't know exactly what to do. Like, you got to give me something that helps me do my job here.’”

The "shadow docket" refers to the Supreme Court's emergency orders and unsigned decisions issued outside the normal appellate process, which have increased significantly in recent years and raised concerns about transparency and accountability in judicial decision-making. Critics have argued that the conservative-majority Supreme Court, including President Donald Trump's appointees, has used the shadow docket to issue consequential rulings on controversial issues like abortion, voting rights and immigration with minimal explanation or public deliberation, effectively allowing the court to reshape law through expedited procedures that bypass traditional briefing and oral argument requirements.

The Supreme Court has also come under fire after insiders revealed that staffers were told to sign formal contracts, opening them to legal action if they reveal secrets.

Nondisclosure agreements were imposed by Chief Justice John Roberts in late 2024, which Kantor has described as a result of unusual leaks and ethical lapses.