[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4388 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4388

     To improve the administration of justice by requiring written 
 explanations by the Supreme Court of its decisions and the disclosure 
of votes by justices in cases within the appellate jurisdiction of the 
   Supreme Court that involve injunctive relief, and other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2024

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Welch, Ms. 
Hirono, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Smith, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Klobuchar, 
 Mr. Schumer, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To improve the administration of justice by requiring written 
 explanations by the Supreme Court of its decisions and the disclosure 
of votes by justices in cases within the appellate jurisdiction of the 
   Supreme Court that involve injunctive relief, and other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shadow Docket Sunlight Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. SUPREME COURT WRITTEN EXPLANATIONS AND DISCLOSURE OF VOTING IN 
              CASES INVOLVING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 155 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2285. Written explanations and disclosure of voting in Supreme 
              Court cases involving injunctive relief
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `Supreme Court' means the Supreme Court of 
        the United States, including any individual justice or set of 
        justices when acting on behalf of the Supreme Court of the 
        United States; and
            ``(2) the term `Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction' 
        means all cases within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 
        other than those within the original jurisdiction of the 
        Supreme Court.
    ``(b) Requirement.--
            ``(1) Written explanation and vote disclosure.--In any case 
        within the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction, the Supreme 
        Court may not issue any order granting, denying, or vacating 
        injunctive relief or granting, denying, or vacating a stay of 
        such relief unless the Supreme Court publishes a written 
        explanation of reasons supporting such order and indicates in 
        writing how each participating justice voted regarding such 
        order.
            ``(2) Multiple opinions.--The written explanation required 
        under paragraph (1) may be made in 1 or more opinions 
        representing a majority of justices participating in a 
        decision, without regard to whether a majority of the justices 
        participating in a decision publish the same written 
        explanation.
            ``(3) Administrative and scheduling orders excluded.--The 
        requirements of this subsection shall not apply to orders 
        granting or denying applications that relate only to 
        administrative or scheduling matters or petitions for 
        certiorari and that do not grant, deny, or vacate injunctive 
        relief or grant, deny, or vacate a stay of such relief.
    ``(c) Limitations and Inclusions.--In implementing this section, 
the following shall apply:
            ``(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify 
        the substantive standards applied by any court in deciding any 
        case.
            ``(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify 
        the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under any other law.
            ``(3) This section shall apply with respect to orders 
        issued in connection with a claim under chapter 5 or 7 of title 
        5.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 155 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``2285. Written explanations and disclosure of voting in Supreme Court 
                            cases involving injunctive relief.''.

SEC. 3. REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than April 1 of the first year that 
begins more than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
April 1 of every second year thereafter, the Director of the Federal 
Judicial Center shall submit to Congress a report--
            (1) assessing the extent of compliance or noncompliance 
        with the requirements of section 2285 of title 28, United 
        States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act; and
            (2) providing any recommendations of the Director regarding 
        ways to improve compliance with such section 2285.
    (b) Additional Time.--For the first report required under 
subsection (a), the Director of the Federal Judicial Center may submit 
the report after the date described in that subsection if the Director 
identifies in writing to Congress the amount of additional time needed 
for completion of the report.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the 
application of such a provision or amendment to any particular person 
or circumstance is held invalid, the remaining provisions of this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of such 
remaining provisions and amendments to any other person or 
circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.
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