A conservative appeals court in the South seems to be exasperating the Supreme Court
If there is a down-to-the-deadline scramble at the Supreme Court to intervene on a hot-button case with far-reaching implications, there is a good chance that the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the source of the legal fracas.
The very conservative appeals court – which oversees federal appeals arising from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi – has been responsible some of the most far-right, sweeping rulings that have been appealed to the Supreme Court. Many of those clashes have played out on the so-called shadow docket, the colloquial term for emergency applications that high court must decide on a quick timeline, without the full process of briefing and oral arguments.
The appeals court and the high court both lean heavily to the right – with appointees installed by former President Donald Trump taking both courts in an even more conservative direction. Yet in some disputes, the Supreme Court repeatedly batted down the 5th Circuit at a frequency that far exceeds that of other federal appeals courts.
The court has paused 5th Circuit rulings that would have blocked federal gun restrictions, interfered with federal immigration activity and limited Biden administration contact with social media companies.
