New leak of confidential SCOTUS memos sheds light on potentially irreversible effects of emergency rulings Published April 25, 2026 6:00AM (EDT) Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) This article was originally published on The Conversation . The recent publication of confidential Supreme Court memoranda by The New York Times has brought to light a pivotal moment in the court’s history. “The birth of the Supreme Court’s shadow docket has long been a mystery,” wrote reporters Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak. “Until now.” Originally coined by legal scholar William Baude , the term “shadow docket” refers to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, which, as Baude wrote, includes “a range of orders and summary decisions that defy its normal procedural regularity .” That’s law professor-speak for cases that are given abbreviated consideration and accelerated review by the justices, all out of public view – what The New York Times story referred to as the court “sprinting.” These…