During the last few days we have been almost totally immersed in matters related to our Supreme Court–both listening and writing. Witnessing all of the anxiety and concern about the need for a Court capable of both lending stability and being a centerpiece in preserving our representative democracy, we began searching for an authoritative source to provide clarity about the state of the Court in these uncertain times. Our search has led to the essay The 2023-24 Supreme Court That Was – And Wasn’t by Michael C.Dorf, Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell University:
“Cornell Law professor Michael C. Dorf discusses key cases from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 Term, focusing on cases where the Court made non-merits decisions and cases with high stakes beyond their precedential value. Professor Dorf argues that the Court’s procedural dismissals in significant cases like those involving social media content moderation and abortion access led to public confusion and missed opportunities to clarify important legal questions, while its rulings in high-stakes cases such as those involving former President Donald Trump had immediate and far-reaching consequences that sometimes overshadowed their legal precedents.”