ACS Boston: Discussion with Stephen Vladeck, Author of "The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic

The ACS Boston Lawyer Chapter and the ACS Boston University School of Law, Suffolk University Law and the the University of Maine School of Law Student Chapters will be hosting a virtual event with Stephen Vladeck, author of the new book "The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic." Professor Vladeck holds the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law, is CNN's Supreme Court Analyst, and is a member of ACS's Board of Academic Advisors. Professor Vladeck will be participating in a discussion of his book The Shadow Docket, as well as talking about what lies ahead for the Supreme Court and our nation.

In his book, Professor Vladeck notes that the Supreme Court has always had the authority to issue emergency rulings in exceptional circumstances. But since 2017, the Court has dramatically expanded its use of the behind-the-scenes “shadow docket,” regularly making decisions that affect millions of Americans without public hearings and without explanation, many times through stealthy late-night rulings that appear to be intended to leave lawyers and the public at large scrambling to deal with the "shadow" rulings. Professor Vladeck also explores how the Supreme Court's conservative majority has used the shadow docket to allow restrictive voting laws and bans on abortion, and to limit immigration and COVID vaccine mandates. Professor Vladeck notes that Americans of all political stripes should be very concerned about what the Supreme Court's dangerous and increasing use of its shadow docket portends for the rule of law.

Here is a NPR's review of the "Shadow Docket."