Leaked memos trace origins of Supreme Court 'shadow docket'

The New York Times published seven confidential 2016 memos that trace how the Supreme Court's 'shadow docket' developed. The memos show justices and their clerks used expedited orders and internal decisions to issue a 5-4 stay blocking President Obama's Clean Power Plan before full briefing and oral argument. The documents show practices from 2016 helped normalize using the shadow docket to decide high-stakes policy without full briefing or signed merits opinions.