The Supreme Court has taken the travel ban case off the argument calendar, asking for letter briefing on whether the case is moot (and, presumably, what should be done if it is). As the mootness question was entirely predictable (I think I may have been the first one to flag it publicly, but lots of people did rather quickly), should any of the justices be annoyed at what seems to me the patent manipulation of the Court? I assume that the limitation of the scope of the injunction ordered by the Court in itself justifies the government's positions. But, I also assume that the limitation resulted from negotiations within the Court, and attendant (perhaps modest) tensions, and some people might not take kindly to the filings having that effect (if, of course, my assumption is correct).