Book Review: ‘Shadow Docket’ sheds light on Supreme Court

The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic (Basic Books, 2023) should be a wake-up call to everyone.

Laws are being made by U.S. Supreme Court justices without the public’s awareness. Decisions rendered without explanation and without names. Cases are not heard without understanding why.

Author Stephen Vladeck holds the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law and is a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts, constitutional law, national security law, and military justice. He has argued more than a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

This book is a bit wonky. It’s serious. It’s not lighthearted. But it’s important. It’s important for people to understand what the justices are doing because it impacts all of us. This goes beyond the headline grabbing decisions that are openly decided.

The history lesson this book contains about the Supreme Court was captivating. I realized how little I knew. Stories about people who are likely to be familiar to most readers were interesting.

Learning more about issues that came before the court like gay marriage, pandemic cases, election cases, executions—all fascinating.

Vladeck talks about the history of the shadow docket and how it is used today. It was supposed to be for emergency rulings—like staying an execution. Today, it’s a tool to create law as well as rule on matters without the public’s awareness, and without accountability.

Judges at all levels are critical to maintaining our democracy. The Supreme Court even more so. But if is allowed to continue to run amok, well, maybe there won’t be a democracy left to save.

This book, while difficult at times to listen to because of the legalese, was powerful, educational and important.