Vladeck - once rare, Scotus grants of cert before judgment surge

 The United States Supreme Court granted "certiorari before judgment" in the OSHA vaccine cases, bypassing full consideration in the normal litigation and appellate processes.  Now it has done the same in the challenge to affirmative action by the University of North Carolina.  

UT Austin's Steve Vladeck - prominent among critics of the Supreme Court's emergency "shadow" docket - observes:

Steve Vladeck

@steve_vladeck

Certiorari "before judgment" is supposed to be an exceptionally rare practice through which #SCOTUS bypasses courts of appeals to expedite full review of merits cases. From Aug. 2004–Jan. 2018, #SCOTUS granted *0* such petitions. Today’s grant in the UNC case is the *15th* since.