Podcast
The Bulwark Podcast
This brand new book detailed how the Supreme Court uses stealth rulings, often unsigned and unexplained orders, to amass power and undermine the republic. The author wanted the book to be accessible to non-lawyers to explain the significant rulings made outside of the high-profile decisions. He argued that the court's own behavior, particularly through the shadow docket, was eroding its legitimacy more than external criticism.
We are joined today by Steve Vladeck, who is professor at the University of Texas Law School in Austin and is the author of a brand new book, The Shadow Docket, how the Supreme Court uses stealth ruli...
— Episode: Steve Vladeck: The Supreme Court's Shado...
Episode: Steve Vladeck: The Supreme Court's Shadow Docket
This brand new book detailed how the Supreme Court uses stealth rulings, often unsigned and unexplained orders, to amass power and undermine the republic. The author wanted the book to be accessible to non-lawyers to explain the significant rulings made outside of the high-profile decisions. He argued that the court's own behavior, particularly through the shadow docket, was eroding its legitimacy more than external criticism.
We are joined today by Steve Vladeck, who is professor at the University of Texas Law School in Austin and is the author of a brand new book, The Shadow Docket, how the Supreme Court uses stealth rulings to amass power and undermine the republic.
So the reviews for your book have been very, very positive. But one person who I'm guessing is not a big fan of yours, Sam Alito is very, very unhappy with you and he's very unhappy with the criticism of The Shadow Docket.
What this charge misses, and I think what the book tries to flesh out, is that there's plenty in the court's own behavior that merits criticism.
The Shadow Docket is basically just an evocative shorthand that Chicago law professor Will Bode came up with in 2015 to describe, Charlie, nothing other than all of the other things the Supreme Court does besides the 60-ish fancy decisions the court hands down in the high profile cases each spring.
The book is The Shadow Docket How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.