Overview
- Documents published by the New York Times on Saturday revealed a five-day memo blitz in February 2016 that ended with a 5–4, one-paragraph order freezing Obama’s Clean Power Plan, widely viewed as the start of the court’s modern shadow docket.
- The papers show Chief Justice John Roberts urged using the “major questions” idea, which says agencies need clear approval from Congress for big moves, to argue the EPA had overreached.
- Justice Samuel Alito warned that, without a stay, utilities would make costly, hard-to-undo changes before courts could rule, and Justice Anthony Kennedy concurred in granting the stay.
- Justice Elena Kagan and other liberals opposed an immediate halt, pressing for the usual briefing and argument and questioning claims that quick court action was needed to avoid harm.
- The source of the leak was not disclosed, with analysts noting an oddly formatted Sotomayor memo in the cache, and the release has renewed debate over secrecy and the shadow docket’s fast, often unexplained orders later used in major disputes.