Dr. Taraleigh Davis
@tdunc17.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Public Law/Am. Politics @bradleyu | Political Science Ph.D. @UWM | M.A. @UCF_SPSIA | Shadow Docket | she/her
Oh we are hearing motions and not just oral argument?!?
October 6, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Oh we are hearing motions and not just oral argument?!?
"They're continuing this post-Dobbs federalism framework of returning any type of contested moral social issues back to the democratic process at the state level," Davis said.
US Supreme Court girds for culture wars with LGBT, guns and race cases reut.rs/42s9DO6
US Supreme Court girds for culture wars with LGBT, guns and race cases
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to wade back into the nation's culture wars during its new nine-month term that begins on Monday with a series of contentious cases on issues including transgender athletes, gay conversion therapy, guns and race.
reut.rs
October 5, 2025 at 9:45 PM
"They're continuing this post-Dobbs federalism framework of returning any type of contested moral social issues back to the democratic process at the state level," Davis said.
This expansion in turn boosts Trump's power, Davis added, b/c if administration officials know they are "likely to receive a stay on the emergency docket they can implement controversial policies immediately & fight the legal battle with the policy already in effect." www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
US Supreme Court expands its 'emergency' docket - and Trump's power too
As she has done several times recently, liberal Justice Elena Kagan last week sounded the alarm after another bold emergency action by the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority again let President Donald Trump carry out one of his policies without taking the usual time or deliberation to review its legality.
www.reuters.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:37 PM
This expansion in turn boosts Trump's power, Davis added, b/c if administration officials know they are "likely to receive a stay on the emergency docket they can implement controversial policies immediately & fight the legal battle with the policy already in effect." www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
My latest piece at @scotusblog.com is out! I’ve spent years tracking how long it takes the Court to decide on emergency applications so you don’t have to. Here’s what I found.
www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/is-t...
www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/is-t...
Is the emergency docket really for emergencies?
If you’re requesting emergency relief from the Supreme Court, how long should you expect to wait for a decision? In other words, does the court really treat emergency applications as […]
www.scotusblog.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM
My latest piece at @scotusblog.com is out! I’ve spent years tracking how long it takes the Court to decide on emergency applications so you don’t have to. Here’s what I found.
www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/is-t...
www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/is-t...
“Missives of the type written by Gorsuch and Burroughs are highly unusual, according to Taraleigh Davis, a Bradley University professor who has written about the shadow docket.”
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Judges vexed by Supreme Court 'shadow docket' rulings in Trump cases
An extraordinary spat is occurring within the U.S. judiciary concerning a flurry of Supreme Court decisions.
www.reuters.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:32 PM
“Missives of the type written by Gorsuch and Burroughs are highly unusual, according to Taraleigh Davis, a Bradley University professor who has written about the shadow docket.”
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
I’m really excited to announce that last week I signed an advance contract with UVA Press for my book “In the Shadow of the Emergency Docket: Emergency Applications and the Evolution of Judicial Power” to appear in UVA Press’s book series Constitutionalism and Democracy!
August 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I’m really excited to announce that last week I signed an advance contract with UVA Press for my book “In the Shadow of the Emergency Docket: Emergency Applications and the Evolution of Judicial Power” to appear in UVA Press’s book series Constitutionalism and Democracy!
Why didn’t anyone tell me? :(
This is, sadly, the last year of Mudcats baseball. The neighboring Raleigh exurb of Wilson built a shiny new park about 30 miles away from here, and the team is moving after this season to become the Wilson Warhawks. Which means we lose perhaps the best logo in all baseball:
June 17, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Why didn’t anyone tell me? :(
Great read on the dissent - data contradicts Alito's claim granting emergency relief w/o gov’t response was “unprecedented” It only requests responses in 33% of cases & grants 46% of those. The Court granted relief w/o responses in 11% of emergency apps (16-21) Not unprecedented—just less common.
Today’s “One First” takes a (very) deep dive into Justice Alito’s Saturday night dissent in the A.A.R.P. Alien Enemy Act case—and how it attempts to invent a series of procedural objections to the majority’s intervention that … simply don’t exist:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/145-justic...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/145-justic...
145. Justice Alito's Misbegotten Dissent in A.A.R.P.
Justice Alito's after-the-fact opinion dissenting from the Court's early-Saturday-morning Alien Enemy Act ruling rests on a revealing array of misrepresentations, misstatements, and non-sequiturs.
www.stevevladeck.com
April 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Great read on the dissent - data contradicts Alito's claim granting emergency relief w/o gov’t response was “unprecedented” It only requests responses in 33% of cases & grants 46% of those. The Court granted relief w/o responses in 11% of emergency apps (16-21) Not unprecedented—just less common.
Jackson in her dissent (joined by Sotomayor) argued that application lacked urgency since the TRO would expire in three days, the Dept abruptly terminated over 100 grants with min. explanation & appeared arbitrary and capricious, harm to states and education institutions was significant and concrete
24A910 Order
www.documentcloud.org
April 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Jackson in her dissent (joined by Sotomayor) argued that application lacked urgency since the TRO would expire in three days, the Dept abruptly terminated over 100 grants with min. explanation & appeared arbitrary and capricious, harm to states and education institutions was significant and concrete
SCOTUS just overturned a TRO in Dept of Ed v. Ca - deciding it was actually a preliminary injunction in disguise. They also determined the Gov’t would likely succeed in showing the DC lacked jurisdiction to order payment under the APA. Respond. Wouldn’t suffer irreparable harm if TRO was stayed
April 4, 2025 at 8:39 PM
SCOTUS just overturned a TRO in Dept of Ed v. Ca - deciding it was actually a preliminary injunction in disguise. They also determined the Gov’t would likely succeed in showing the DC lacked jurisdiction to order payment under the APA. Respond. Wouldn’t suffer irreparable harm if TRO was stayed
Chief Justice Roberts requests a response by April 1st in Trump v. J.G.G. (24A931) AEA case with Judge Boasberg - Fun Fact at the end of last term it looks like we were up to 24A215 so from Oct 2024 to now we’ve made it to 931! #shadowdocket #trumpeo #aea
March 28, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Chief Justice Roberts requests a response by April 1st in Trump v. J.G.G. (24A931) AEA case with Judge Boasberg - Fun Fact at the end of last term it looks like we were up to 24A215 so from Oct 2024 to now we’ve made it to 931! #shadowdocket #trumpeo #aea
Justice Kagan requests a response by April 3 in OPM v. American Federation of Government Employees (24A904) the SG requested an administrative stay as well as a stay of the injunction that ordered the rehiring of 16,000 probationary employees www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...
Search
www.supremecourt.gov
March 27, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Justice Kagan requests a response by April 3 in OPM v. American Federation of Government Employees (24A904) the SG requested an administrative stay as well as a stay of the injunction that ordered the rehiring of 16,000 probationary employees www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...
Second and last case of the day Bondi v. Vanderstock - Gorsuch writes for 7-2 majority that the ATF’s rule regulating ghost guns is valid. Thomas and Alito dissent saying that the text of the Act doesn’t cover unfinished parts and that weapons parts kits aren’t “weapons” until assembled
March 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Second and last case of the day Bondi v. Vanderstock - Gorsuch writes for 7-2 majority that the ATF’s rule regulating ghost guns is valid. Thomas and Alito dissent saying that the text of the Act doesn’t cover unfinished parts and that weapons parts kits aren’t “weapons” until assembled
Court issued 2 opinions this morning first in U.S. v Miller Justice Jackson writes in an 8-1 opinion that the trustee in the case can’t recover the money from the IRS. Gorsuch dissents saying the government can be sued because Congress removed their special protection in bankruptcy cases.
March 26, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Court issued 2 opinions this morning first in U.S. v Miller Justice Jackson writes in an 8-1 opinion that the trustee in the case can’t recover the money from the IRS. Gorsuch dissents saying the government can be sued because Congress removed their special protection in bankruptcy cases.
Chief Justice Roberts requests a response by April 4th in Trump v. CASA (24A884) I think it’s notable the amount of time AND that there is no temporary stay of the lower courts in the meantime www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...
Search
www.supremecourt.gov
March 14, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Chief Justice Roberts requests a response by April 4th in Trump v. CASA (24A884) I think it’s notable the amount of time AND that there is no temporary stay of the lower courts in the meantime www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...
Throwback to Con Law in the Fall where my class argued the Glossip case - they came out 4-4 based on how they thought their justice would rule. (Yes Gorsuch recused but he was still there for the assignment’s sake) @bradleyupolisci.bsky.social
February 25, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Throwback to Con Law in the Fall where my class argued the Glossip case - they came out 4-4 based on how they thought their justice would rule. (Yes Gorsuch recused but he was still there for the assignment’s sake) @bradleyupolisci.bsky.social
Happy to share that my article on procedural legitimacy, the shadow docket, and support for the U.S. Supreme Court from APR is out!
journals.sagepub.com/eprint/B7CHBCB…#shadowdockete#aprp#courtlegitimacycy
journals.sagepub.com/eprint/B7CHBCB…#shadowdockete#aprp#courtlegitimacycy
https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/B7CHBCB…
December 19, 2024 at 11:30 PM
Happy to share that my article on procedural legitimacy, the shadow docket, and support for the U.S. Supreme Court from APR is out!
journals.sagepub.com/eprint/B7CHBCB…#shadowdockete#aprp#courtlegitimacycy
journals.sagepub.com/eprint/B7CHBCB…#shadowdockete#aprp#courtlegitimacycy
Autocrats in the Reputation Era: my new research shows they support independent courts when they fear karma’s coming. #firstview www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The “Case” for Independent Courts: The Insurance Theory of Judicialization in Autocracies | Journal of Law and Courts | Cambridge Core
The “Case” for Independent Courts: The Insurance Theory of Judicialization in Autocracies
www.cambridge.org
December 12, 2024 at 12:57 AM
Autocrats in the Reputation Era: my new research shows they support independent courts when they fear karma’s coming. #firstview www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Fitting first post on this app!
Y’all
“I believe the study has the potential to add meaningfully to the literature on this topic, and so I am pleased to invite you to revise the manuscript along the lines suggested by the reviewers.”
Aaaaaahhhh! My 1st solo R&R!
Y’all
“I believe the study has the potential to add meaningfully to the literature on this topic, and so I am pleased to invite you to revise the manuscript along the lines suggested by the reviewers.”
Aaaaaahhhh! My 1st solo R&R!
January 15, 2024 at 6:02 PM
Fitting first post on this app!
Y’all
“I believe the study has the potential to add meaningfully to the literature on this topic, and so I am pleased to invite you to revise the manuscript along the lines suggested by the reviewers.”
Aaaaaahhhh! My 1st solo R&R!
Y’all
“I believe the study has the potential to add meaningfully to the literature on this topic, and so I am pleased to invite you to revise the manuscript along the lines suggested by the reviewers.”
Aaaaaahhhh! My 1st solo R&R!