The Supreme Court That Won’t Look
The Atlantic critiques the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow the Trump administration to restrict mail-in voting, arguing the court is ignoring established facts. The author contends that the conservative majority is enabling election-related conspiracy theories through the shadow docket.
Why it matters
The piece addresses the intersection of judicial power, election integrity, and the role of the Supreme Court in American democracy.
In decision after decision, the conservative justices are ignoring facts that the lower courts have worked hard to establish.
Grant Faint / Getty August 27, 2026, 10:02 AM ET Share Save T he Roberts Court is abdicating one of its most important roles, that of truth-teller.
This much was apparent on Monday in Trump v. California , when the Supreme Court’s Republican appointees let the Trump administration move forward with a plan to curb voting by mail. Via the Court’s shadow docket, the justices lifted an injunction against parts of an executive order that President Trump had issued to stop what he believes is the “massive cheating that’s gone on” in American elections, as he said at the Oval Office signing ceremony in March.
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