The conservative U.S. Supreme Court increasingly relies on the secretive shadow docket to derail clean air standards and remove guardrails on a Trump White HouseThe conservative U.S. Supreme Court increasingly relies on the secretive shadow docket to derail clean air standards and remove guardrails on a Trump White House

Trove of documents shed rare light on Supreme Court’s secretive affair with poison

2026/04/18 19:32
3분 읽기
이 콘텐츠에 대한 의견이나 우려 사항이 있으시면 [email protected]으로 연락주시기 바랍니다

The conservative U.S. Supreme Court increasingly relies on the secretive shadow docket to derail clean air standards and remove guardrails on a Trump White House, but the New York Times managed to nab confidential correspondence from 2016 that provides insight on the furtive court’s effort to dismantle an EPA crackdown on poisonous airborne mercury.

“Over five days in the winter of 2016, the justices of the Supreme Court exchanged an extraordinary series of confidential memos about how the court should address an ambitious climate change initiative from President Barack Obama. The debate yielded an order halting the program by a 5-to-4 vote — without any explanation,” reports the Times. “Legal scholars have called the episode the birth of the modern shadow docket, in which the court has used truncated procedures cloaked in secrecy to block or allow major presidential initiatives in terse rulings.”

The Times reports these confidential papers are normally not disclosed until after a judge’s death, meaning the “public might not learn what happened, and why, for decades” after a decision.

In an effort to unravel new clean air standards by the Obama administration, the communications reveal Chief Justice John Roberts sought to invoke the “major questions doctrine” to block federal regulations seeking to shut down dirty coal plants in favor of newer, cleaner energy tech. His argument was that agencies can’t make decisions of vast “economic and political significance” if Congress explicitly grants them that power. The Times notes that the conservative court has increasingly relied upon that argument to discourage energy evolution and cleaner air standards.

Among some of Roberts’ correspondence are claims that “solar plants are not built in a day” but that renewable energy facilities are virtually here to stay once constructed and do “irreparable harm” to Congress’ power to kill or discourage them.

Roberts also accuses the Democrat-led E.P.A. of sidestepping the court overturning an Obama administration rule limiting coal plant mercury emissions — which are a proven neurotoxin according to President Donald Trump’s own EPA. The Times also reports that the fact that most power plants were already in compliance “or well on their way” to reducing mercury emissions appeared to anger the chief justice all the more.

Further private correspondence reveals liberal justice Elena Kagen was “not buying” Roberts’ insistence that immediate action by the court was necessary to save power companies the costs of upgrading or shutting down dated technology, while a third liberal justice asked the court to slow down its EPA rollback, while conservative Justice Samuel Alito is already prepared to rule in favor of continued mercury poisoning.

The “shadow papers,” according to the Times, represent the inner workings of a conservative court that has become increasingly mysterious within the last decade and it prefers to render decisions without argument or public scrutiny.

  • george conway
  • noam chomsky
  • civil war
  • Kayleigh mcenany
  • Melania trump
  • drudge report
  • paul krugman
  • Lindsey graham
  • Lincoln project
  • al franken bill maher
  • People of praise
  • Ivanka trump
  • eric trump
시장 기회
Notcoin 로고
Notcoin 가격(NOT)
$0.0004012
$0.0004012$0.0004012
-3.48%
USD
Notcoin (NOT) 실시간 가격 차트
면책 조항: 본 사이트에 재게시된 글들은 공개 플랫폼에서 가져온 것으로 정보 제공 목적으로만 제공됩니다. 이는 반드시 MEXC의 견해를 반영하는 것은 아닙니다. 모든 권리는 원저자에게 있습니다. 제3자의 권리를 침해하는 콘텐츠가 있다고 판단될 경우, [email protected]으로 연락하여 삭제 요청을 해주시기 바랍니다. MEXC는 콘텐츠의 정확성, 완전성 또는 시의적절성에 대해 어떠한 보증도 하지 않으며, 제공된 정보에 기반하여 취해진 어떠한 조치에 대해서도 책임을 지지 않습니다. 본 콘텐츠는 금융, 법률 또는 기타 전문적인 조언을 구성하지 않으며, MEXC의 추천이나 보증으로 간주되어서는 안 됩니다.

USD1 Genesis: 0 Fees + 12% APR

USD1 Genesis: 0 Fees + 12% APRUSD1 Genesis: 0 Fees + 12% APR

New users: stake for up to 600% APR. Limited time!