The sudden return of summary reversals

The sudden return of summary reversals

Nuts and Bolts is a recurring series by Stephen Wermiel providing insights into the mechanics of how the Supreme Court works. A Supreme Court shortcut for deciding cases without full briefing and oral argument is experiencing a rebirth after languishing from disuse for several years. The procedure is called summary reversal. For decades the court used summary reversals to correct errors by lower courts. But the practice seemed to go dormant betw…