Leaked memos trace origins of Supreme Court 'shadow docket'

The New York Times published seven confidential 2016 memos that show justices using expedited orders and internal coordination to bypass normal briefing, oral argument, and signed opinions. The memos detail a 5-4 emergency order in 2016 that blocked President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan before full merits consideration, describing Chief Justice John Roberts' role in rushing the halt. The documents trace how those emergency practices hardened into the modern "shadow docket," where unsigned, unexplained orders decide high-stakes policy questions without the Court’s usual public reasoning.