Supreme Court's Delayed Gratification - Above the Law

"The Supreme Court’s first argued-case opinion for the term, Bowe v. United States, did not arrive until January 2026, a delay attributed to an unprecedented surge in emergency-docket activity that consumed the court’s time and pushed routine argued opinions later into the term. Over the last eighty years, the court had waited until January to issue its first opinion in argued cases only twice before, underscoring how emergency filings have reshaped the court’s schedule and slowed the pace of argued-case decisions."

"Historically, the Court’s argued-opinion calendar begins much earlier in the term, with opinions commonly released in November or December; the January start this term reflects a significant change. The spike in emergency applications — requests for immediate orders, stays, and other relief — forced the justices to prioritize urgent matters, compressing the timeline for merits opinions and producing one of the rarest scheduling outcomes observed across eight decades of the modern Court."

The Supreme Court’s first opinion in an argued case for the 2025–26 term, Bowe v. United States, was issued in January 2026. Over the past eighty years, the Court had waited until January to issue its initial argued-case opinion only twice before. The January timing is being linked to a large increase in emergency-docket activity that demanded immediate attention. The surge in emergency filings compressed the Court’s regular argued-case schedule, delaying opinions that historically appeared earlier in the term and highlighting a shift in how the justices allocate their workload.

Read at Above the Law