The Supreme Court's emergency docket, often called the shadow docket, has become a flashpoint for debate over judicial power. In a new essay, the author focuses on the role of the circuit justice — the single justice assigned to handle emergency requests from a particular federal circuit. That justice can act alone, without waiting for the full Court, to block or reverse a lower court's ruling.
The essay's central metaphor is unmistakable: the circuit justice is like Zeus on Mount Olympus, instantly hurling lightning bolts at wayward lower courts. The imagery underscores both the speed and the unilateral nature of the process. A single individual, rather than a deliberative body, effectively decides whether a lower court's decision stands.
The significance of this arrangement, the author suggests, is that it concentrates enormous power in one person. While the full Court may later review the emergency order, the initial decision often shapes the outcome of the case. The essay implies that this is a troubling departure from the ideal of collective judgment, though it stops short of proposing a specific remedy.