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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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Justice Sonia Sotomayor said on Thursday that the Supreme Court is receiving an “unprecedented” number of emergency appeals.
“We’ve done it to ourselves,” Sotomayor said during an appearance at the University of Alabama Law School. “The newspapers are filled with reports about how many emergency motions we are receiving. It’s unprecedented in the court’s history.”
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump’s administration has filed around 30 emergency applications with the Supreme Court over the past 15 months, and the court has ruled in its favor more than 80 percent of the time, Politico reported.
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The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Trump during his first term: Justices Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.
In February, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberal justices to form a majority in a decision holding that a 1977 law does not authorize the president to implement tariffs. Trump said he was “absolutely ashamed” of some justices who ruled against him in that case, calling them “disloyal to our Constitution.”
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What To Know
Sotomayor said there is a “disagreement” among the justices about whether federal government policies being paused by lower courts warrant review by the Supreme Court.
“There are members of my court...who believe that when Congress passes a law, it causes Congress and the people irreparable harm to have that law ignored...It has changed the paradigm on the court.”
Sotomayor expressed similar concerns last year in a dissent to a decision related to the government’s ability to remove illegal immigrants to countries other than the ones listed on their removal orders.
“Today’s order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial. Respectfully, I dissent,” Sotomayor said.
The court’s decisions made on emergency applications, often called a "shadow docket," are separate from its merits docket. The court often issues a ruling in these cases without a written opinion explaining the majority's decision.
At an event last year, Kavanaugh said the court is "doing more and more process to try to get the right answer on those preliminary assessments," but there can be a “danger” in issuing written opinions too early in a case.
What People Are Saying
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, at the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference last year: “There can be a risk in writing the opinion of lock-in effect, of making a snap judgment and putting it in writing, in the written opinion, that is not going to reflect the final view.”
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, at a judicial conference in California last year: "Courts are supposed to explain things. They're supposed to explain things to litigants. They're supposed to explain things to the public, generally."
What Happens Next
The Supreme Court is in its 2025-2026 term, which is expected to end in June.
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