Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose how the Supreme Court’s shadow docket is undermining judicial transparency by issuing unsigned emergency orders with little to no explanation instead of following the traditional process involving months of briefing, oral arguments, and detailed written opinions. The hosts reveal how Trump’s administration filed over 20 emergency applications in just seven months—more than Biden filed in four years—with the Court siding with Trump in 84 percent of cases through brief orders that provide no reasoning or guidance to lower courts. They detail how a New York Times survey found that 47 out of 65 federal judges—including Republican appointees—believe the Supreme Court is mishandling its emergency docket, with judges calling the orders “mystical,” “a slap in the face,” and comparing their relationship with the Supreme Court to “a war zone” while warning of a “judicial crisis” that undermines public
trust in the judiciary.