Watching the Calendar
The U.S. Supreme Court, above all the three co-equal branches of government, operates on tradition and schedules. Rare is the situation when they deviate from that; one notable exception I can recall was in the Bush v. Gore case, when a decision was handed down in the evening given the deadlines involved.
The Court makes it clear on what days the public can expect decisions to be handed down. Yesterday was one of those days, and indeed, a host of important rulings were released. But, of course, not “the” ruling…the one that may limit or overrule Roe v. Wade.
The Court’s public calendar lists nothing for today…and a combined conference/opinion issuance day tomorrow. Then there is literally nothing on the public calendar for three full months, until the first set of new oral arguments on the traditional first Monday of October. This again is nothing new; traditionally opinions from a session are handed down in June, and the slate is clean until October.
Smart money, therefore, says tomorrow is the day the justices will gather for one last time before the summer break…and issue one last set of rulings. For safety, presumably they’ll all be far from the Supreme Court building when any rulings are released…that alone is a sad commentary.
The chance that the abortion ruling is postponed until fall is slim; it’s possible, because after all they set their own schedule. And if, in fact, a ruling is not ready…it won’t come out.
So in many ways, today is the calm before the storm; call it a whirlwind, if you will. Certainly others have. And that’s the scary part.
