Supreme Court

Jonathan H. Adler | 9.14.2025 3:41 PM

In today's New York Times, Adam Liptak takes a look at the "sharp partisan divides" on the Supreme Court's "emergency docket" (aka the "shadow docket" or "interim docket").

The story notes that the Trump Administration has sought emergency or interim relief more often than did the Biden Administration, and has had more success--prevailing in 84 percent of such cases compared to 53 percent during the Biden Administration. "That is perhaps unsurprising, given that the court is dominated by six Republican appointees," Liptak writes.

The story notes that there appears to be an ideological or partisan pattern in the justices votes on such orders.

The emergency docket presents a different portrait of the court, one in which partisan affiliations map onto voting patterns quite closely, reinforcing the declining public confidence in the court reflected in opinion polls.

On the far right side of the court, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. voted with the Trump administration 95 percent of the time and the Biden administration just 18, for a gap of 77 percentage points.

On the far left, the size of the gap was identical, but in the other direction. Justices Sonia Sotomayor........

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