Book reveals US Supreme Court's right-wing agenda through 'shadow docket'

Conservative justices on the US Supreme Court have been using the "shadow docket" to shift laws governing religious freedom sharply to the right through a series of unsigned and unexplained emergency orders, according to a new book by Stephen Vladeck. The orders do not reveal who voted for them or why, often providing one-line explanations of the legal thinking behind them. Vladeck warns that the trend is merging with the current ethics scandals surrounding the conservative justice Clarence Thomas to damage the legitimacy of the court and threaten a full-blown constitutional crisis.