As People For and many others have recently recognized, MAGA-aligned justices on the Supreme Court have abused its “shadow docket” to uphold troubling conduct by Trump that harms people’s rights, without even giving the cases full review. In 2026, we’ve already seen examples of these justices using the “shadow docket” to cause additional harm by doing the bidding of Republicans on a range of issues including in voting matters and the far right on LGBTQ rights.
On the same day, March 2, 2026, the MAGA majority handed down two separate “shadow docket” rulings with no signed majority opinion or detailed explanation and preceded by scant briefing and no oral argument. The majority in both cases was the same six justices: Trump nominees Brett Kavanaugh, Neal Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett, plus right-wing justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Chief Justice John Roberts.
In the first case, Mirabelli v Bonta, the majority summarily put back into effect a lower court ruling invalidating a California law protecting the privacy of transgender teens. The order requires schools to tell parents if a student wants to undergo gender transition efforts, even if the student wants privacy. Justice Kagan’s dissent severely criticized the majority for using the “shadow docket” with “scant” and “inadequate” briefing, and giving short shrift to the “critical interests of the state in the care and education” of its students.
On the same evening, the MAGA majority struck again, this time on voting rights. Black and Latino voters in New York had filed a state court lawsuit, contending that the congressional district including Staten Island had been improperly drawn to exclude minority voters. A State trial court agreed and ordered redistricting. Before state appellate courts had ruled, the Republican member of Congress from that district and others went to the Supreme Court to try to at least delay the order until after the 2026 elections.
The Supreme Court’s MAGA majority did as Republicans demanded, in a brief one paragraph order without any explanation. The three moderate justices strongly dissented, noting that the majority was taking the “unprecedented step” of stopping a state trial court order in a redistricting case ‘without even giving the State’s highest court a chance to act.” The majority’s lawless action in Malliotakis v Williams, Justice Sotomayor wrote, illustrated the old saying “Rules for thee but not for me.”
We should all urge our members of Congress to take action to rein in the abuse of the shadow docket. Continued strong criticism of the MAGA majority’s actions is important to encourage such action and help build opposition that will hopefully discourage such abuses in the future.