Speaking to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit's Judicial Conference, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggests that the "interim docket" is a better label for the Supreme Court's docket of requests for interim orders and emergency relief than the "shadow docket."
From a Bloomberg report:
"I think the term 'interim docket' best captures it," Kavanaugh told attendees at the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit's conference in Memphis on Thursday, after he was asked to "settle" the dispute over what to call the justices' oft-criticized practice of issuing brief orders in pending cases without explanation.
Though the docket has also been called the "emergency docket," for its handling of emergency requests for relief — or the "shadow docket" by critics who see it as opaque —Kavanaugh noted that not all of these requests the justices field are emergencies.
"It's not real catchy, so I'm not sure it'll bloom, but that's the term" Kavanaugh said of his preferred label, which he'd also invoked in July at the Eighth Circuit's conference in Kansas City.
