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1 1 (February 2, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/govetox0001 and id is 1 raw text is: The Interim Docket or Shadow Docket: Non-Merits Matters at the Supreme Court February 2, 2026 Over the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued approximately fifty to eighty decisions per year in merits cases-matters that receive full briefing and oral argument-as well as thousands of orders disposing of non-merits matters. The Court's non-merits matters, or subsets of its non-merits matters, are known by various names, including the emergency docket, the shadow docket, and the interim docket. The non-merits docket encompasses a variety of matters-ranging from petitions for writs of certiorari to routine procedural motions to requests for emergency relief-that can have immediate and far-reaching practical impacts. In recent years, the Supreme Court's non-merits decisions have attracted increasing attention from commentators and policymakers, with a particular focus on the Court's disposition of requests for emergency relief. This Legal Sidebar provides an overview of the Supreme Court's non-merits docket and the procedures that apply to non-merits matters. It briefly describes the legal and policy debate around the non-merits docket then discusses recent developments in this area. The Sidebar closes with selected considerations for Congress related to regulating procedures in non-merits matters. Overview of Non-Merits Matters Like all federal Article III courts, the Supreme Court decides both merits cases and an array of non-merits matters. Merits cases are what most people think of when they picture Supreme Court litigation: The parties file written briefs with the court, sometimes supplemented by briefs from non-party amici curiae (friends of the court) who raise additional issues and arguments relevant to the case; the Court holds oral argument at which attorneys for the parties present their cases and answer questions from the Justices; then the Court issues a written opinion deciding the case and explaining its reasoning. Non-merits decisions are decisions ofthe Court other than final opinions in argued cases. Key examples of non-merits matters at the Supreme Court include the following: * Petitions for writs of certiorari. Most cases that reach the Supreme Court come via these filings, which are also known as cert petitions. When a party seeks Supreme Court review via certiorari, the Court has discretion whether to hear the case. It declines Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11391 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress