‘Abuse of the Shadow Docket’: Powerful Senate Judiciary Chair Slams Conservative Supreme Court Justices

The powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is blasting the conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court in the wake of their 5-4 decision to allow Texas’ unconstitutional abortion ban to become law after women’s rights groups urged the Court to pause and examine the legislation.

Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) is announcing he will hold a hearing to examine how the Court handled the case, while accusing its right wing jurists of “abuse of the shadow docket,” CBS News reports.

The New York Times calls the shadow docket a “process intended to help the court deal with emergency petitions and routine matters,” but notes it “has grown into a backdoor way of making major policy decisions.”

“The Supreme Court,” Chairman Durbin said in a statement, “must operate with the highest regard for judicial integrity in order to earn the public’s trust.”

“This anti-choice law is a devastating blow to Americans’ constitutional rights—and the court allowed it to see the light of day without public deliberation or transparency. At a time when public confidence in government institutions has greatly eroded, we must examine not just the constitutional impact of allowing the Texas law to take effect, but also the conservative court’s abuse of the shadow docket.”