The Volokh Conspiracy

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A Strange Sorting Feature On The Supreme Court's Docket

The order from the Justice is listed before the reply briefs.

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


I've noticed a quirk on the Supreme Court's docket. Often, an order from a Justice will be entered before the notation for reply briefs, even though the reply briefs were filed before the order.

Such is the case with Hoskins v. Von Glahn, which concerned Missouri's congressional maps.

The reply briefs were filed in the early hours of Tuesday, September 8. Then, around 6:00 in the evening, Circuit Justice Kavanaugh denied the order in chambers. Yet, on the docket, Kavanaugh's order appears before the reply briefs.

If you were to just look at this docket, you might think that the reply briefs were filed after the Circuit Justice order, which would make no sense.

I'm not sure why they are sorted like this. Perhaps the Justice's order always takes precedence in a given day?

Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston and the President of the Harlan Institute. Follow him @JoshMBlackman.