II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4388 

To improve the administration of justice by requiring written explanations 

by the Supreme Court of its decisions and the disclosure of votes by 

justices in cases within the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 

that involve injunctive relief, and other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2024 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. WELCH, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve the administration of justice by requiring written 

explanations by the Supreme Court of its decisions and 

the disclosure of votes by justices in cases within the 

appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court that involve 

injunctive relief, and other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shadow Docket Sun5 light Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUPREME COURT WRITTEN EXPLANATIONS AND 

2 DISCLOSURE OF VOTING IN CASES INVOLV3 ING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 155 of title 28, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 2285. Written explanations and disclosure of voting 

8 in Supreme Court cases involving injunc9 tive relief 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Supreme Court’ means the Su12 preme Court of the United States, including any in13 dividual justice or set of justices when acting on be14 half of the Supreme Court of the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Supreme Court’s appellate juris16 diction’ means all cases within the jurisdiction of the 

17 Supreme Court other than those within the original 

18 jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. 

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) WRITTEN EXPLANATION AND VOTE DIS21 CLOSURE.—In any case within the Supreme Court’s 

22 appellate jurisdiction, the Supreme Court may not 

23 issue any order granting, denying, or vacating in24 junctive relief or granting, denying, or vacating a 

25 stay of such relief unless the Supreme Court pub26 lishes a written explanation of reasons supporting 


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1 such order and indicates in writing how each partici2 pating justice voted regarding such order. 

3 ‘‘(2) MULTIPLE OPINIONS.—The written expla4 nation required under paragraph (1) may be made 

5 in 1 or more opinions representing a majority of jus6 tices participating in a decision, without regard to 

7 whether a majority of the justices participating in a 

8 decision publish the same written explanation. 

9 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE AND SCHEDULING OR10 DERS EXCLUDED.—The requirements of this sub11 section shall not apply to orders granting or denying 

12 applications that relate only to administrative or 

13 scheduling matters or petitions for certiorari and 

14 that do not grant, deny, or vacate injunctive relief 

15 or grant, deny, or vacate a stay of such relief. 

16 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS AND INCLUSIONS.—In imple17 menting this section, the following shall apply: 

18 ‘‘(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

19 to modify the substantive standards applied by any 

20 court in deciding any case. 

21 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed 

22 to modify the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 

23 under any other law. 


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1 ‘‘(3) This section shall apply with respect to or2 ders issued in connection with a claim under chapter 

3 5 or 7 of title 5.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec5 tions for chapter 155 of title 28, United States Code, is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘2285. Written explanations and disclosure of voting in Supreme Court cases 

involving injunctive relief.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. REPORTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 1 of the first 

9 year that begins more than 180 days after the date of 

10 enactment of this Act, and April 1 of every second year 

11 thereafter, the Director of the Federal Judicial Center 

12 shall submit to Congress a report— 

13 (1) assessing the extent of compliance or non14 compliance with the requirements of section 2285 of 

15 title 28, United States Code, as added by section 2 

16 of this Act; and 

17 (2) providing any recommendations of the Di18 rector regarding ways to improve compliance with 

19 such section 2285. 

20 (b) ADDITIONAL TIME.—For the first report required 

21 under subsection (a), the Director of the Federal Judicial 

22 Center may submit the report after the date described in 

23 that subsection if the Director identifies in writing to ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:51 Jul 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4388.IS S4388

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1 gress the amount of additional time needed for completion 

2 of the report. 

3 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

4 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

5 this Act, or the application of such a provision or amend6 ment to any particular person or circumstance is held in7 valid, the remaining provisions of this Act and the amend8 ments made by this Act, and the application of such re9 maining provisions and amendments to any other person 

10 or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby. 

Æ 


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