US Supreme Court Bucks Recent Trend, Announces Opinion Release

The US Supreme Court will issue its first opinion of the term in an argued case on Nov. 22, earlier than in recent terms when the first opinion days were in December and even January.

The court’s website didn’t say on Friday which case or cases will be decided, but arguments from the October sitting are the most likely candidates.

Nine cases were argued in October, including disputes over federal court jurisdiction, the availability of attorneys’ fees, and when parties must first exhaust administrative remedies before suing in federal court.

More complicated cases argued in October, like the challenge to the Biden administration’s “ghost gun” regulations and an Oklahoma capital case, are likely to take more time before a consensus can be reached.

The court’s first opinion during the 2021 term, a water dispute Mississippi v. Tennessee, was also on Nov. 22.

The last opinion released earlier was authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That was the unanimous ruling in Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido, which was handed down on Nov. 6, 2018.

Ginsburg was known for her speed, frequently writing the court’s first rulings of the term. During her tenure, the court frequently issued its first opinions—often unanimous—in November.

But the first opinion announcement in recent terms has crept later and later.

During it’s 2022 term, the justices didn’t release their first opinion until Jan. 23, 2023. It was the first time since the Supreme Court began starting its term on the first Monday in October in 1917 that it hadn’t released a decision through the beginning of December, according to Empirical SCOTUS creator Adam Feldman.

Along with the court’s slower start has been a general decrease in the number of cases that the justices have heard, and a disproportionate number of high-profile disputes.

The justices have so far bucked those trends as well. The court has already agreed to hear 45 cases this term, and is expected to continue to add more to the docket through mid-January. Most so far are lower-profile ones that don’t involve controversial social issues.

An opinion or opinions are expected Nov. 22, but the court could also dismiss a case as “improvidently granted.” That means that the justices decided they shouldn’t have taken the case in the first place.

During arguments Nov. 13 in an investor suit against tech giant Nvidia, several justices openly wondered why the court had taken up the matter.

It “becomes less and less clear why we took this case,” Justice Elena Kagan said.