2022 will come to a close without the Supreme Court issuing a single opinion in an argued case during October Term 2022. Nor has the Court issued a per curiam merits opinion. This is unusual, particularly considering the (relatively) small size of the Court's docket.
While the Supreme Court does not usually issue many Fall opinions, it typically issues a few opinions in argued cases, along with the occasional merits opinion in a case summarily reversing the opinion below. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was often the first justice to issue an opinion in an argued case each term, but she was rarely alone in getting an opinion out the door before the New Year.
While the justices may not be writing much yet (other than in opinions related to orders) they are certanly talking. The Court's oral arguments have become substnatially longer this term, owing in part to the new format in which traditional, free-for-all argument is supplemented by seriatim questioning by the justices.
