The Subversion of Justice
Coup by Shadow Docket
Since his elevation to Chief “Justice”, the decisions of the Roberts’ Supremely Corrupted Court of the United States has repeatedly eviscerated the guardrails of American democracy.
The 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling unleashed a flood of dark money, giving billionaires free rein to buy influence through untraceable Super PACs. In 2024 alone, oligarchs like Elon Musk, Timothy Mellon, Miriam Adelson, Jeffrey Yass, and Ken Griffin poured over half a billion dollars into the 2024 election cycle.
Their outsized influence dwarfed the voices of millions of ordinary voters. Combined with nearly $2 billion in dark money, Citizens United v. FEC shifted the United States from an experiment in representative democracy to a plutocracy now controlled by a convicted felon and hundreds of election deniers at the Federal, State, and local levels of government.
“The complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited Constitution… to guard the Constitution and the rights of individuals from the effects of those ill humors.” —Alexander Hamilton (Federalist No. 78, 1788)
Shadow Docket, Exhibit 1:
Noem v. Perdomo —
ICE Detentions in Los Angeles on the basis of Race
In July 2025, a District Court Judge found evidence of a pattern of discriminatory enforcement practices by Trump/Miller/Noem ICE agents that raised serious Fourth Amendment constitutional concerns. The Judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order stopping ICE from detaining people on the basis of how they look, their primary language, their workplace, or where they gather.
Roberts’ Supremely Corrupted Court issued a stay via the “shadow docket”.
- Action: The Supreme Court granted the stay via a shadow-docket order on September 8, 2025. Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson dissented
From Scotus Blog: Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from Monday’s ruling, in a 21-page opinion joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor described the court’s action as “yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket. We should not have to live in a country,” she wrote, “where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost,” she concluded, “I dissent.”
“There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.”
― Joseph Pulitzer
What is the “Shadow Docket”?
The term “shadow docket” refers to the U.S. Supreme Court’s use of emergency orders and summary decisions made outside the Court’s normal merits docket (the one with full briefing, oral arguments, and signed opinions).
These rulings often come without detailed reasoning, can be issued quickly, and sometimes significantly affect law and policy. Here’s a history of how it developed:
- The Supreme Court has always had an emergency or procedural docket to handle urgent matters like stays of execution, injunctions, or procedural extensions. These were traditionally seen as routine orders without establishing sweeping legal precedent.
- For much of U.S. history, the shadow docket was used sparingly. Its function was to manage interim issues. For example, whether to halt (or stay) a lower court’s ruling while the case proceeded through the appeals process, either in the lower appellate courts or on its way to full consideration by the Supreme Court.
- Most orders were unanimous or uncontroversial, with little public attention, and often had minimal impact beyond the immediate case.
Starting in the late 20th century, and especially in the 21st century, the Court has increasingly used the shadow docket for substantive, high-stakes issues:
Bush v. Gore (2000): Although technically not part of the shadow docket, it showed how emergency rulings could decide a presidency.
Obama administration (2009–2017): Emergency orders occasionally dealt with immigration enforcement and death penalty cases.
In the First Trump Administration, or as I prefer, crime wave, the shadow docket became central. The administration often sought emergency relief from the Court, and the Court repeatedly issued late-night or unsigned orders affecting immigration bans, COVID-19 restrictions, federal executions, and voting rules. The Criminal Elect and his AG, Pam “Bribe Me Barbie” Bondi are now leveraging Roberts and the shadow docket in order to decimate Constitutional Checks and Balances, Constitutional and Civil Rights protections, and to usurp Congressional power in order to expand the Presidency into an authoritarian tyrannical government.
Here’s another despicable group shrouded in robes and secrecy denying Americans their Constitutional and Civil Rights protections. Perhaps Roberts, Alito, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Thomas should be wearing white robes? Donald: Do you see your dad Fred in that photo? These orders now shape major policy disputes without a shred of transparency. It is not justice, and it is another dangerous and unchecked domestic attack by billionaires on the United States.
Critics (including Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Breyer at times) have argued that the shadow docket:
Lacks transparency (few or no written opinions).
Skips deliberation (no oral argument).
Enables partisan-seeming outcomes, since orders often split along ideological lines.
Defenders say the Court must have the ability to act quickly on urgent matters and that emergency decisions do not always dictate final rulings.
Public and academic scrutiny has grown. In 2021, the House Judiciary Committee even held a hearing on the shadow docket’s use.
Shift Happens
In theory, the Supreme Court should be the impartial guardian of the Constitution, applying the law equally and without partisanship. The court is intended to ensure justice, accountability, protection of rights, and serving as a check on the other branches of government.
In the early 2000’s Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo started to collaborate on remaking the Judicial system. Together they understood that remaking the judiciary was a durable way to entrench conservative power, regardless of election outcomes. Leo, of The Federalist Society was building a pipeline of conservative judicial activists and was instrumental in elevating Chief ‘Justice’ Roberts, ‘Justice’ Alito, and ‘Justices’ Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.
The Federalist Society is a powerful network of conservative lawyers, judges, and activists). Think of the anti-democracy Heritage Foundation, however, focused on subverting the legal system.
In 2022 billionaire Barre Seid ‘donated’ $1.6 billion to Leonard Leo through the Marble Freedom Trust, Leo has been provided unlimited resources to bend the moral arc of the universe toward the political whims of a secretive then 90 year-old billionaire. So justice is not blind and is for those who can afford it.
https://www.propublica.org/article/dark-money-leonard-leo-barre-seid
Few other people have had as much impact on the Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government as Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. He was instrumental in blocking the nomination of Merrick Garland (considered a centrist with a stellar reputation) with Neil Gorsuch.
Had Garland been serving as a Supreme Court Justice, perhaps then President Biden would have nominated a fierce Attorney General to aggressively pursue all elected officials who participated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection, instead of Garland who prioritized his reputation as a centrist non-partisan over vigorously defending the Constitution, democracy, justice, and equality.
Shadow Docket, Exhibit 2:
NIH v. American Public Health Association (APHA) —
Funding for critical public health research
Due to an Executive Order by the Criminal Elect cutting off NIH grants tied to DEI programs, hundreds of millions in research grants—related to pressing health concerns like HIV, suicide prevention, and gender-related studies—are now at risk.
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
― Frederick Douglass
Shadow Docket, Exhibit 3:
Windom v. Florida and Other Execution-Related Cases (e.g., Bates v. Dixon/Florida) — Erosion of Due Process
The Supreme Court denied emergency stays in several pending execution cases, blocking last-minute relief despite unresolved constitutional questions.
Shadow Docket, Exhibit 4: Decisions from 2020-2024:
- Barr v. Lee (July 14, 2020)
Allowed the Trump administration to resume federal executions after 17 years. Which led to a historic wave of executions rushed through with minimal judicial review. Because, you know, “Pro-life”. - Democratic National Committee v. Wisconsin (Oct 2020)
Denied extending absentee ballot deadlines during COVID because who cares about disenfranchising thousands due to mail delays during a public health crisis. - Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (Nov 25, 2020)
Blocked New York’s COVID restrictions on religious gatherings, a decision that prioritized the religious rights of a few over the public health rights of the majority. - Tandon v. Newsom (Apr 9, 2021)
Struck down California limits on in-home religious gatherings. Same as above. - Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson (Texas SB8) (Sept 1, 2021)
Allowed Texas’ 6-week abortion ban with bounty-hunter enforcement to take effect. Which effectively nullified Roe and corresponding protections of women’s health in Texas months before Dobbs. - Alabama Association of Realtors v. HHS (Aug 26, 2021)
Ended the CDC’s COVID eviction moratorium. Which exposed millions of renters to risk of eviction during a pandemic proving this Supremely Corrupted Court will do everything it can to protect profit over people. - Biden v. Texas (Aug 24, 2021)
Ordered Biden administration to reinstate Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy. This forced continuation of a controversial immigration program against executive policy. - Merrill v. Milligan (Feb 7, 2022)
Reinstated Alabama’s congressional maps found to dilute Black voting power. which allowed racially discriminatory maps to be used for 2022 elections. - West Virginia v. EPA (stay orders) (2022)
Limited Biden administration’s ability to enforce climate regulations while litigation proceeded which weakened environmental protections and delayed climate action. - Various Execution Cases (ongoing, 2020–2024)
Repeated denials of last-minute stays, often in late-night orders. - Abortion Ban Litigation (post-Dobbs, 2022–2024)
Shadow docket rulings shaped enforcement of state abortion bans. creating confusion and patchwork access to reproductive healthcare putting women’s health at risk.
My Closing Argument:
The Supreme Court’s shadow docket started as a quiet tool for urgent case management but, especially since the Trump/GOP crime wave era, SCOTUS has evolved into a powerful instrument that shapes major national policies without the transparency and deliberation of normal Court decisions. It is antithetical to any form of justice accountable to a free and democratic society.
When we think of the insurrection we may focus on the horrific violence, injuries, and loss of life on January 6, 2021, while Trump gleefully watched the events unfold on TV.
We think of all of the election deniers who either participated in January 6, …
… or continued to undermine elections by casting doubt and denying the results despite all evidence and testimony, which notably included a handful of courageous Republicans.
We might think of those participated in the attempt to disrupt a peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of the American experiment in representative democracy, such as the wife of “Justice” Thomas, Ginni Thomas. (see more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/26/january-6-committee-ginni-thomas-clarence-thomas)
What we don’t think of are six members of the highest court in the United States operating in absolute secrecy, absent any ethics, and with accountability to no one who are using the shadow docket to attack the very system they are charged with protecting. It is an ultimate betrayal to justice, the Constitution and to the American people.
Those who yell “Freedom” and “Liberty”, oddly remain silent when the the Supreme Court of the United States operates in a manner consistent with traditional so-called “justice” systems in Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Hungary, El Salvador, and other hotbeds of “Freedom” and “Liberty” (in case you are wondering whether your hate, racism, and willful ignorance are showing).
“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
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