Trump has filed more than 30 such requests since January 2025
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson used a Thursday address at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law to publicly criticize her Supreme Court colleagues’ handling of the emergency docket, the expedited procedure the Trump administration has repeatedly turned to in pressing its agenda.
Jackson, one of the three liberal members of the supreme court, criticized the justices’ willingness to issue rulings via the “shadow docket,” according to The Guardian, which reported that she argued the expedited procedure undermines the public’s faith in the judicial system.
“There is a serious concern that the supreme court’s modern stay practices are having a disruptive and potentially corrosive effect,” Jackson told faculty and students at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A Clarke school of law on Thursday, according to The Guardian.
“If we’re not careful, the emergency docket can and will become an end-run around the standard review process,” she added.
The emergency docket — sometimes also referred to as the “shadow docket” — is where plaintiffs can request immediate relief from the supreme court in consequential cases. Justices can quickly grant or dismiss requests without conducting the same legal review that is typically required in merit cases or providing a lengthy explanation to the public.
Jackson’s speech came hours after the Trump administration filed its latest emergency request, asking justices to allow officials to continue deporting immigrants to countries other than their own.
The Trump administration has used the method to rapidly push forward the US president’s agenda. Since returning to office in January 2025, the administration has filed more than 30 emergency requests, according to The Guardian. Many of those requests have been granted by the court’s conservative majority, allowing the administration to temporarily end protections for migrants seeking asylum, eliminate transgender rights, roll back environmental protections, fire the officials in charge of independent federal agencies and more.
Jackson pointed to Justice Elena Kagan’s July testimony to Congress. The Guardian reported that Kagan told Congress she thought the court was improving its handling of requests by providing some justification.
Jackson told the audience that while the court “began to explain more,” it was “still not the full kind of explanation” that cases receive on the merits docket.
The justices have faced criticism for their handling of emergency requests from members of Congress and the public.
While Jackson delivered her remarks, three of her colleagues — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — joined other officials at the White House for a state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping.