The rule of law means, at its core, that those who govern may not simply issue decrees. Their actions must be based on reasons that are publicly known. Power must explain itself. So it should be big news when courts break their own rules. Stephen Vladeck’s book, The Shadow Docket, explains those rules clearly, and shows that the Court – particularly since Amy Coney Barrett joined it and cemented its right wing majority - has been defying them, often in a partisan way that benefits Republicans and hurts Democrats.
I explain in a new review at the Los Angeles Review of Books, here.