1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

The Supreme Court issued two shadow docket orders on Monday night that fundamentally altered legal protections for millions of Americans without full briefing, oral arguments, or signed majority opinions. This procedural abuse must end. In Mirabelli v. Bonta, the conservative majority reinstated an injunction blocking California's student privacy protections through an anonymous order claiming the state's policies would fail strict scrutiny under Mahmoud v. Taylor. California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned this injunction allows no exceptions, even when students or teachers reasonably fear physical or mental abuse. Justice Elena Kagan's dissent exposed the majority's hypocrisy in suddenly embracing substantive due process, a doctrine these same justices attacked in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. She wrote that the decision "cannot but induce a strong sense of whiplash" given past statements from Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh condemning this very legal theory. In Malliotakis v. Williams, the Court blocked a New York state court ruling that found unlawful vote dilution of Black and Latino voters in congressional district NY-11. Justice Alito's solo concurrence characterized remedying racial discrimination as "unadorned racial discrimination." UCLA Law professor Rick Hasen called this "bad news not just for Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act at issue in Louisiana v. Callais but for more voting protections in the states." The Court issued this stay in a single unexplained paragraph. Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissent began: "The Court's 101-word unexplained order can be summarized in just 7: 'Rules for thee, but not for me.'" The shadow docket was designed for genuine emergencies. It has become a tool for rewriting law without accountability. I urge you to support legislation requiring the Supreme Court to provide full reasoning for all orders that alter legal rights, restrict shadow docket use to true emergencies, and mandate transparency in all judicial proceedings. Our democracy cannot function when the highest court operates in darkness.