Leaked Memos Show Roberts Pushed 2016 Clean Power Plan Stay
Internal 2016 memos show Chief Justice John Roberts pressing colleagues to block the Clean Power Plan, sparking the modern 'shadow docket' and renewed questions about court secrecy and partisanship.
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TPMJohn Roberts Is Always a Republican First
SlateA New Supreme Court Leak Shows John Roberts at His Worst
ReasonThe Supreme Court’s 'shadow docket' has sprung a leak
Just the NewsSupreme Court faces another leak as internal memos surface in NYT report
Overview
Memos from five days in February 2016, including a February 6 memo and a February 9 four-line memo, show Chief Justice John Roberts urged a swift stay blocking the Clean Power Plan, the documents show.
The stay was issued before the U.S. Court of Appeals had heard the case and is widely seen as the origin of the modern 'shadow docket' of expedited, often unsigned Supreme Court orders, according to the reporting.
Liberal justices including Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor criticized Roberts's urgency and factual claims in the memos, while Justice Anthony Kennedy indicated he would join Roberts, the documents reveal.
The exchanged documents total about 16 pages over five days and note that states were not required to comply with the rule until 2022 and that companies had roughly six years before taking action.
The leak follows earlier high-profile disclosures, including a 2022 draft Dobbs opinion, and comes after the court adopted nondisclosure agreements for employees in late 2024, raising questions about secrecy and the shadow docket's future.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the stories as a transparency crisis and political stability issue. Editorial choices use charged terms ('leak', 'secretive', 'weakness'), foreground leaked memos and anonymous confirmations, and highlight partisan implications. Quotations and sourcing are treated as source content; the framing emerges from language, emphasis, and organization that prioritize institutional critique.