<![CDATA[#GiftArticle]]>

The Inside Story of 5 Days That Remade

Secret memos obtained by The NYT illuminate the origins of the court’s now-routine “” rulings on presidential power.

Just after 6PM on a February evening in 2016, the Supreme Court issued a cryptic, one paragraph ruling that sent both policy & the court itself spinning in new directions.


https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html?unlocked_article_code=1.b1A.W0_1.54-PmsieNhyB&smid=nytcore-ios-share

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/0e7f0745-26e6-45d7-a671-363f96d26226/giftarticleRSS for NodeThu, 30 Apr 2026 09:55:19 GMTSat, 18 Apr 2026 14:21:17 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sun, 19 Apr 2026 02:08:09 GMT]]>@Nonilex "too big, costly & consequential for the court not to act immediately."

So what he was really saying is that his argument against the policy was so weak that he couldn't even argue it in public. Seems pretty typical of all Republican actions, they can't make a valid point, they can only act in secrecy and hide behind lies.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/Shdwdrgn/statuses/116428930407702427https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/Shdwdrgn/statuses/116428930407702427Sun, 19 Apr 2026 02:08:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sun, 19 Apr 2026 01:12:55 GMT]]>@Nonilex threatened is an extreme understatement that shit is gone

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://todon.nl/ap/users/116030439184350676/statuses/116428713195533756https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://todon.nl/ap/users/116030439184350676/statuses/116428713195533756Sun, 19 Apr 2026 01:12:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:50:03 GMT]]>@Nonilex

Almost makes you forget that the is responsible for putting this regime into power. Almost.

Yet, nary a mention of how they supported Roberts and Cheeto and wanted this to happen.

@newyorktimes@flipboard.com (whom I presume has long since blocked or muted me, lol, but I'm tagging them anyway.)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urbanists.social/users/MissGayle/statuses/116427915496646350https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urbanists.social/users/MissGayle/statuses/116427915496646350Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:50:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:42:03 GMT]]>@Nonilex That would be the idea that money is more important than hunger being the general constraint on policy that oligarchy always makes it.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://canada.masto.host/users/graydon/statuses/116427412193364374https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://canada.masto.host/users/graydon/statuses/116427412193364374Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:42:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:34:38 GMT]]>@Nonilex “Risky” in that we may change the court’s structure and accountability because they broke the constitution

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/avirr/statuses/116427383023777556https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/avirr/statuses/116427383023777556Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:34:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:33:52 GMT]]>@Nonilex The theory of an apolitical has become total fiction. Maybe that theory is and always has been wishful thinking, but this court has mockery of that concept. The time has come to make major changes in order to protect constitutional integrity. The first order of business should be term limits, retroactively applied with Thomas at the top of the list to be retired.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://connectop.us/users/CAman/statuses/116426908165074752https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://connectop.us/users/CAman/statuses/116426908165074752Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:33:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:32:35 GMT]]>@Nonilex Roberts needs to be removed ASAP

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Jesticulated/statuses/116426667132829297https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Jesticulated/statuses/116426667132829297Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:32:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:17:20 GMT]]>@Nonilex Roberts is a key factor in the downfall of America.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/nomdeb/statuses/116426607213618760https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/nomdeb/statuses/116426607213618760Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:17:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:15:25 GMT]]>@Nonilex
Wouldnt mind seeing Alito cosplaying Nuremburg defendant

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ChrisHolladay/statuses/116426599680090441https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ChrisHolladay/statuses/116426599680090441Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:15:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:04:58 GMT]]>@Nonilex When the climate shit really hits the fans in the coming ten to twenty years, people are going to want a time machine and a guillotine.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://phpc.social/users/cxj/statuses/116426558565202171https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://phpc.social/users/cxj/statuses/116426558565202171Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:04:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:03:32 GMT]]>@Nonilex it's almost as if Lady Justice has been blindfolded and can't see that her scales are way, way out of balance

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://deacon.social/users/Bodling/statuses/116426552932100865https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://deacon.social/users/Bodling/statuses/116426552932100865Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:03:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:02:30 GMT]]>@Nonilex I am disgusted, angry, and dispirited, but sadly not at all surprised.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://phpc.social/users/cxj/statuses/116426548861354540https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://phpc.social/users/cxj/statuses/116426548861354540Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:02:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:55:57 GMT]]>@Nonilex The irony...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Ponygirl/statuses/116426523132507297https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Ponygirl/statuses/116426523132507297Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:55:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:52:45 GMT]]>In the era, & the other conservative justices have repeatedly empowered the president through their rulings. By contrast, the papers reveal a court wielding those same powers to block . Justice Samuel A. Jr. warned that if the court failed to stop the president, its own “institutional legitimacy” would be threatened.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426510506843127https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426510506843127Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:52:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:50:05 GMT]]>When colleagues warned the chief justice that he was proposing an unprecedented move, he was dismissive. “I recognize that the posture of this stay request is not typical,” he wrote. But he argued that the plan, which aimed to regulate -fired plants, was “the most expensive regulation ever imposed on the power sector,” & too big, costly & consequential for the court not to act immediately.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426500047137145https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426500047137145Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:50:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:48:48 GMT]]>In public, Chief Justice Jr. has cultivated a reputation for care & caution. The papers reveal a different side of him. At a critical moment for the country & the court, the papers show, he acted as a bulldozer in pushing to stop Mr. ’s plan to address the global .

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426494999187163https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426494999187163Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:48:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:47:17 GMT]]>Writing on formal letterhead, but addressing one another by their first names & signing off with their initials, they sound notes of irritation, air grievances & plead for more time. In addition to the usual legal materials, they cite a post &, twice, a interview. They sometimes engage with one another’s arguments. But they often simply talk past each other.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426489024062775https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426489024062775Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:47:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:45:56 GMT]]>The NYT has obtained those papers & is now publishing them, bringing the origins of the Supreme Court’s into the light.

The 16 pages of memos, exchanged in a five-day dash, provide an extraordinarily rare window into the court, showing how the justices talk to one another outside of public view.


https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket-papers.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426483759401987https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426483759401987Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:45:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:44:24 GMT]]>Since that night a decade ago, the logic behind ’ pivotal 2016 order has remained a mystery. Why did a majority of the justices bypass time-tested procedures & opt for a new way of doing business?
The answer would remain secret for generations, legal experts predicted. “We’ll never know (at least, until our grandkids can read the justices’ internal papers from that time period),” Stephen Vladeck, a prof at Georgetown, wrote in a newsletter in Feb marking the anniversary of the order.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426477730931458https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426477730931458Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:44:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:41:03 GMT]]>@Nonilex Biggest power grab by the court since Marbury v. Madison.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://triangletoot.party/users/donaldball/statuses/116426228577355234https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://triangletoot.party/users/donaldball/statuses/116426228577355234Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:41:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:26:00 GMT]]>At the time, the ruling seemed like a curious one-off. But that single paragraph turned out to be a sharp & lasting break. That night marks the birth, many legal experts believe, of the court’s modern “,” the secretive track that has since used to make many major decisions, including granting more than 20 key victories on issues from immigration to agency power.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426169393383189https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426169393383189Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:26:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:23:38 GMT]]>But this time, the justices were sprinting to block a major presidential initiative. By a 5-to-4 vote along lines, the order halted President Barack ’s Clean Power Plan, his signature policy. They acted before any other court had addressed the plan’s lawfulness. The decision consisted of only legal boilerplate, without a word of reasoning.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426160099363423https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426160099363423Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:23:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to #GiftArticle on Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:22:50 GMT]]>For two centuries, the court had generally handled major cases at a stately pace that encouraged care & deliberation, relying on written briefs, oral arguments & in-person discussions. The justices composed detailed opinions that explained their thinking to the public & rendered judgment only after other courts had weighed in.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426156998250960https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/Nonilex/statuses/116426156998250960Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:22:50 GMT