Article by Robbie Soltz

In granting a pause of a District Court ruling restricting immigration stops based on racial profiling, it seems to me that the Supreme Court will need to relinquish its claim to justice. A blindfolded Lady Justice, holding a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other, is a symbol of the court and of impartial justice, and represents balanced judgement.  But according to SCOTUS– if you look like a brown person, speak Spanish and work at a low wage job, you are a suspected illegal immigrant and you can be detained, prosecuted and deported by the government.  The scales are tipped, and the blindfold is off.  This is racism and it flies in the face of Amendment 14 of the U.S. Constitution

How is a decision like this possible in the United States?  First and foremost, the answer to that question lies in the hearts and (biased) minds of the Justices that approved it. But beyond that, this case was decided on the so-called Shadow Docket rather than the Merits Docket.  Specifically, the shadow docket is where SCOTUS deals with procedural issues whereas the merit docket is the “full Monty.”  In these cases, SCOTUS considers numerous opinions (briefs), holds oral hearings (arguments) then renders a decision with a detailed explanation of its reasoning.  In fact, almost all the SCOTUS cases you have heard of – Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education – were decided on the merits docket.

In contrast, cases on the shadow docket generally do not have briefing or hearings, and the decisions are typically not accompanied by any explanation of the reasoning behind them.  To make matters worse, they are often produced overnight or on the weekend and pop up for us to behold on Monday morning.  I am not an attorney or Political Science wonk, but even I can see that decisions made in this manner are not transparent and certainly lack the benefit of review and scrutiny that significant issues merit.  The shadow docket is, in fact, shady and we, the people, deserve much better judgements from SCOTUS, especially on decisions that have the potential to disrupt so many people’s lives.

This article was co-published by the Ellensburg Daily Record Newspaper on September 27, 2025. Robbie Soltz is a retired University Instructor and a former State and National Executive Employee. She is currently President of the Kittitas County League of Women Voters and a Member of the Kittitas County Water Conservation Board. She relishes Water Resource Management, STEM education her grandchildren, horses, cats and beloved husband Dave, as well as living in Northeastern Kittitas County, Washington.