How an 'obscure line' from a 1977 case helped SCOTUS stack its docket in Trump’s favor
FILE PHOTO: WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 04: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy attend U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Many of President Donald Trump's executive orders are getting a stern rebuke in the lower federal courts. But the Trump administration is appealing these decisions, some of which are likely to end up being evaluated by the country's ultimate legal authority: the U.S. Supreme Court.
The New Republic's Matt Ford examines the High Court's docket in an article published on September 12, and fears that it is heavily stacked in Trump's favor.
Ford makes his point by referencing a Jimmy Carter-era Supreme Court ruling: New Motor Vehicle Board v. Orrin W. Fox Company.
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"If you're wondering how the High Court's lawless sausage got made," The New Republic says in a sub-headline for Ford's article, "we must turn to an obscure line from a long-forgotten 1977 case."
Ford notes Chief Justice John Roberts use of "the King line," which comes from the Motor Vehicle Board case.
"The King line is a partial quote — and the partialness of it is important — from an opinion that William Rehnquist, Roberts' predecessor as chief justice, wrote in the 1977 case New Motor Vehicle Board v. Orrin W. Fox Company," Ford explains. "At issue in that case was a California state law that required franchised car dealerships — that is, a dealership that purchased the right to sell cars from a specific manufacturer — to notify a state agency and the dealers' nearby competitors whenever they establish or move their place of business. The competitors could then intervene with the board to stop the dealership from opening or moving locations."
Ford goes on to explain how "the King line" is relevant to the Roberts Court's 2025 docket and its Trump-friendly mindset.
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"Instead of weighing the irreparable harms to both parties, as well as the other traditional relevant factors for these shadow-docket cases," Ford argues, "the Roberts Court has given the federal government a potent card to play against litigants who want to stop ongoing harms. And while the King line is a purportedly democratic principle that exalts the legislative process, its current breadth suggests otherwise."
Ford continues, "It is the Constitution that allows Congress to pass laws and the executive branch to enforce them. The Roberts Court's professed deference to statutes and elected representatives is now being used by the Trump Administration to violate Americans' rights while months or years of litigation takes place, so long as they claim they are enforcing a law along the way."
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Matt Ford's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.
