The Shadow Docket #lastweektonight

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]But I actually want to talk about a pattern you may have noticed recently.

[00:00:02]Basically, Trump comes out with a new executive order or action. A bunch of legal experts say, "I'm not sure he can do that." Some courts weigh in and say, "Yeah, he definitely can't do that, and he needs to stop." And then this happens.

[00:00:14]>> Looks like the Supreme Court is allowing President Trump to implement his ban on transgender people serving in the military.

[00:00:20]>> The US Supreme Court is letting the Trump administration move forward with freezing $4 billion in foreign aid. The justice is ruling that the president can indeed proceed with his plan to try to dismantle the education department with mass layoffs. Right. The court has been repeatedly jumping into ongoing cases and say, you know what, while this works its way through the courts, Trump should get to do the thing that he wants to do anyway. It's basically a football referee saying, pending a final ruling on the illegality of the quarterback having a gun, I'm just going to stand back and see where he's going with this.

[00:00:53]And that is possible thanks to the rise of what's known as the shadow docket.

[00:00:57]And to explain what it is, it's probably useful to remember how regular Supreme Court cases are decided.

[00:01:02]>> When you think of a Supreme Court case, you're thinking of a case on the merits docket. A case starts in a district court, is appealed to a circuit court, often called an appeals court, and then it's petitioned to be heard by the Supreme Court. From there, briefs are written, arguing each side, then oral arguments where the justices can ask questions, and then they meet privately in person to discuss the case and vote on it. They spend months writing long opinions and dissents, and then we know who won and who lost and why. And that detailed explanation helps these lower courts understand how to apply it to similar cases going forward.

[00:01:37]>> Yeah, that is very basically it.

[00:01:39]Although one small thing there saying when you think of the Supreme Court case, you're thinking of the merits docket. Excuse me. You don't know what I'm thinking of. When I think of the Supreme Court, especially as what I'm actually thinking about is how the sequel to Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2, Red, White, and Blonde dropped the ball by not having Lwoods argue a case in front of it. Come on, guys. The best part of the first movie is the murder trial. And the sequel has no trial scenes. You set the movie in DC and don't let El show what she can do in front of the highest court in the land.

[00:02:09]That is madness. Anyway, that is what I'm always thinking of when I think of a Supreme Court case. The one I'm eventually going to bring against the producers of Legally Blond Two for not putting Reese in a position to succeed.