If you haven’t heard of the “shadow docket” before, it is a way for the Supreme Court to quickly intervene in cases and either uphold or strike down government rules before they have a chance for a full hearing. It is supposed to be used in emergency situations only, where a delay could cause significant harm.
John, in a surprise dissent, Chief Justice Roberts sided with environmental groups on a “shadow docket” pollution ruling.
The case in question was focused on an EPA rule that was put forward during the Trump administration to undermine the Clean Water Act. A coalition of states and environmental groups challenged this rule, arguing that it goes against 50 years of environmental regulations. Shortly after the Biden administration took over, a federal judge vacated the rule and the EPA stated it would seek to revise it rather than appeal the ruling.
But the oil and gas industry couldn’t let this one go, so they appealed to the Supreme Court to reinstate the Trump rule. And this month, they got their wish, gifted to them by a “shadow docket” ruling of 5 conservative justices.
If you haven’t heard of the “shadow docket” before, it is a way for the Supreme Court to quickly intervene in cases and either uphold or strike down government rules before they have a chance for a full hearing. It is supposed to be used in emergency situations only, where a delay could cause significant harm.
But this conservative-dominated Supreme Court has time after time abused their shadow docket prerogative to first aid the Trump Administration and now to attack the Biden Administration. It has become a blatant political tool of the court.
And this time, even Chief Justice Roberts thinks his fellow conservatives went too far. Chief Justice Roberts joined Justices Kagan and Sotomayor in calling the case an abuse of the court’s emergency powers as not a single project was being identified as affected during the EPA’s revision process.
Naturally, we’re pleased that Chief Justice Roberts has stepped up for clean water this time around. But we know that his dissent won’t stop this ultra-conservative court from continuing to use its emergency intervention powers from destroying vital environmental protections. We have to remain vigilant for any and all threats coming from the Supreme Court that put clean water at risk.
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