Issues & Trends
From One Blockbuster Year to Another? A Peek Into the Supreme Court’s Docket
September 03, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2026–2027 term is shaping up to be a consequential one, with the Court slated to address a number of high-profile issues, including gun regulation, climate change litigation, and voting rights.
To examine what lies ahead and reflect on the Court’s most significant rulings from the 2025–2026 term, the D.C. Bar will host Supreme Court Review and Preview 2026 on September 24.
Kathleen Foley, an associate at Zimmer, Citron & Clarke, LLP specializing in appellate litigation, will moderate the event, which features a panel of appellate experts and former Supreme Court law clerks. The D.C. Bar recently spoke with Foley about what participants can expect from the class.
D.C. Bar: How is this year’s annual D.C. Bar discussion on the Supreme Court beneficial for constitutional lawyers as well as those in other areas?
Foley: Constitutional and appellate lawyers need to track the Court’s doctrinal moves pretty closely, and experienced practitioners like those on the panel can provide a lot of insight into the past term and the upcoming one. I anticipate that the panel’s discussion will draw out a lot of connections and subtle points that cannot be gleaned from opinion text or media coverage.
For attorneys in other specialties, I’d say the docket this past term and what we know of the upcoming one make the case for showing up. This past term, executive power was by most accounts the defining issue, and the results of those cases certainly don’t stay contained to constitutional law.
D.C. Bar: What are the overarching themes in the cases for both the upcoming and past terms?
Foley: On executive power, there were decisions on tariffs, the president’s ability to fire agency heads, and birthright citizenship, with both victories and losses for the president.
Immigration is another bucket of cases, and if those cases are discussed, our panel will have a lot to contribute. There is another small cluster of cases on gender identity — involving passports, school policies, and sports — and I expect everyone would have views because the doctrinal issues are pretty complex.
The other bucket I would highlight would be voting rights and elections. Louisiana v. Callais significantly narrowed the path to victory in suits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. There were also decisions on campaign finance and mail-in ballots. And there is another voting rights case coming up, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, which arises at the intersection of voting rights and immigration.
D.C. Bar: From the past term, were there any under-the-radar cases that may come up?
Foley: Yes — and the fact that these were under the radar speaks to the blockbuster nature of this recent Supreme Court term. For example, there was a Second Amendment case, Wolford v. Lopez, where the Court struck down Hawaii’s presumptive ban on carrying firearms on private property open to the public. Also, there was Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, a case about an incarcerated Rastafarian man whose hair was forcibly cut. Whatever cases the panel chooses to discuss, there will be a lot to say.
D.C. Bar: What might the panel highlight in how the Roberts Court has handled business this term?
Foley: Certainly the top issue is the emergency docket. Even what you call it is a charged issue — some call it the “shadow docket,” others the “interim docket.” The Court in this term is making a lot of consequential decisions through the emergency docket, which often means cases are decided without full briefing or oral argument. Folks across the political spectrum have raised concerns about that, and it can be difficult for lower courts to figure out what they are supposed to take from emergency rulings.
D.C. Bar: A final takeaway for what attendees will gain from this program?
Foley: It is very important for practitioners to be paying attention; it’s our duty as citizens and as attorneys. Supreme Court decisions have the potential to touch every area of practice. This really was a blockbuster term, and it has fueled ongoing discussion on how the Supreme Court is operating and should be operating. This September D.C. Bar discussion is an unparalleled opportunity to plunge into some of this term’s important cases, get a sense of what’s coming up, and learn from our exceptional practitioner panelists.
Don’t miss this year’s D.C. Bar Supreme Court Review and Preview. Register here to attend in person, or here to join the conversation by webinar.
