Abortion ruling and the Supreme Court’s shadow docket

A major abortion decision with no oral arguments, lower court rulings, or even a justice’s signature: That’s what happened Wednesday night. In a break with tradition, the Supreme Court is regularly using its shadow docket for cases with potentially far-reaching implications.

It sounds dramatic. It sounds nefarious. But the United States Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” is not new. What is new, however, is how the court has been using it.

In the space of 10 days, the justices have put the shadow docket – every decision the court makes not...