Hi, and welcome back to Amicus. This is Slate's. I'm going to say it. Gracie award-winning. Thank you. Legal podcast about the courts and the law. This past week brought us the opening of the term with the first Monday in October at the Supreme Court.

Justice's hearing in-person argument for the first time since the winter of 2020,

Brett Kavanaugh calling in because he tested positive for COVID.

The court heard arguments in several cases, including one in which some of them appeared to have forgotten about the existence of Guantanamo Bay. Why is he there? That's a question to put to the government. We don't know the answer. I mean, have you filed a habeas or something? Get him out? There's been a habeas proceeding pending in D.C. for the last 14 years. There's been no action. They don't decide it?

I'm sorry? I mean, you just let it sit there. All right. I guess this is not relevant, but I'm just curious.

Personally, I'm not handling that proceeding. But no, my understanding is that we've done everything we could to

move it forward, but it simply has not moved forward. And the term previews and curtain raisers this

past week skewed quite heavily into the realm of politics with bracing reminders that the

justice's approval ratings are in the tank and the shadow of big, huge abortion and gun rights

cases looming over the term, and justice is giving

very, very polemical angry speeches.

My point is that the media and political talk about the shadow docket is not serious criticism.

It is related to a deep problem that some of my colleagues have addressed recently.

The catchy and sinister term shadow docket has been used to portray the court as having been captured by a dangerous cabal that resorts to sneaky and improper methods to get its ways.

And this portrayal feeds unprecedented efforts to intimidate the court or damage it as an

independent institution. Since our last episode, Justice Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor have taken

to the speaking circuit to talk about what's to come.

Justice Alito to fume and rage against the haters.

And Justice Sotomayor to warn of bumpy days ahead.

Later on in the show, we're going to be joined by Mark Joseph Stern for our Slate Plus segment to talk about that Alito speech to update you on SBA,

the Texas abortion law, and maybe possibly potential beginnings of accountability for the how to coup better elections of version lawyers.

But first, as somebody who's been covering the court for quite some time,

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