Dershowitz Backs Justice Jackson: Supreme Court Should Issue More "Reasoned Judgments" and Curb Emergency Orders

Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax that he agrees with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's public critique of the Supreme Court's growing reliance on emergency orders, arguing the justices should hold more oral arguments and provide fuller written explanations for their rulings.

Speaking on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," the Harvard Law School professor emeritus said Jackson has been "saying in public what many of the justices have been saying in private," and that concern spans both conservative and liberal members of the Court.

In a lecture at the University of the District of Columbia Law School, Justice Jackson criticized the Court's emergency orders as too hasty and often unexplained, warning that the Court cannot expect public confidence while it "consistently greenlighting harmful acts" without offering reasons, Courthouse News Service reported.

"We cannot sustain our legitimacy if we issue orders without explaining the reasoning behind them," Justice Jackson said, according to the report.

Dershowitz said the emergency docket was intended for a very small number of truly urgent cases, but has become a routine mechanism in ordinary disputes. That trend, he said, often leaves litigants and the public without clarity about how the justices voted or why a decision was reached.

He recommended narrowing the emergency docket, reinstating oral-argument requirements in appropriate matters, and issuing more detailed, explained decisions so that the public can properly evaluate the Court. Invoking Alexander Hamilton, Dershowitz observed that justices have "neither purse nor sword" and must therefore rely on persuasion and reason.

"Deciding cases without explanation amounts to 'because we said so,'" he said, adding, "I don't think the Supreme Court does enough heavy lifting." Dershowitz also noted that justices frequently travel and lecture, especially during the summer recess, and pointed out the Court's long winter recess around Christmas and New Year's.

According to the Court's official Journal, the Supreme Court heard arguments in 64 cases and issued 56 written opinions during its 2025–26 term. The Court's records also show that the argued docket has diminished substantially over several decades, even as the justices continued issuing orders through summer months.

Earlier reporting from The Associated Press noted that some emergency orders this year allowed President Donald Trump to move forward with significant elements of his agenda. Dershowitz concluded, "I'm on her side on this one," underscoring his support for greater transparency and more reasoned judgments from the bench.