In the Press
December 12, 2022

Supreme Court Off to Historically Slow Start in Contentious Term (Bloomberg Law)

Professionals

The US Supreme Court likely won’t issue an opinion in an argued case before the justices recess for the year, in what’s already been a historically slow start. Supreme Court practitioners say they aren’t surprised by the court’s slow start this term, in part because of the contentious cases that the court considered during its first argument sitting. That included a major voting rights case, a potentially foundational copyright dispute, and a challenge to the EPA’s ability to regulate wetlands. A couple of factors are driving the low output. While speaking with Bloomberg Law, Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation partner Jaime Santos noted that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “prided herself on being the first person out with an early opinion.” Moreover, Santos notes that there weren’t “many easy cases in the first or second sittings that would reliably be expected to lead to a short, unanimous opinion released quickly.”