This past June, many breathed a sigh of relief when the U.S. Supreme Court rose above partisanship in controversial cases involving abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, the rights of DREAMERS, and the president’s tax returns. In those cases, conservative justices relied on legal reasoning, rather than party loyalty, to guide their decisions.

But lurking in the shadows is a concerning new trend in the Supreme Court to grant an unprecedented number of emergency orders with little transparency and no opportunity for recourse. These cases comprise the court’s aptly named “shadow docket.” And under the Trump administration, this shadow docket has grown exponentially, with the Supreme Court disproportionately ruling on the side of the administration.

On the podcast this week, we’re joined by the ACLU’s legal director David Cole, who explains this trend and digs into why it’s so concerning. We spoke with David before Justice Ginsberg’s death, and before President announced Amy Coney Barrett as his pick to replace her.  It is safe to say that the trends we discussed with David are unlikely to shift course — and could even worsen in the wake of these events.

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/902444986