Just as Justice Kavanaugh spoke to the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference today, Justice Thomas spoke to the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference. (Justices commonly speak at the judicial conference for the circuit for which they are circuit justice.) As with Justice Kavanaugh's remarks, press was in attendance, but the reporting on Justice Thomas's remarks focused more on the sorts of things political reporters care about (his comments about the culture of Washington, DC) than those things that actually provide information on the functioning and potential future direction of the Court. (In this way, the reporting confirms comments about court coverage Sarah Isgur made at today's lunch at the Eleventh Circuit conference.)

For those who care about law and the courts, the most interesting aspect of Justice Thomas's remarks may have been his comments about the "expedited docket"—or what many people call the "shadow docket." Like Justice Kavanaugh, Justice Thomas expressed concerns about the pressure the increase in expedited filings place on the Court. Emergency filings seeking relief from extraordinary relief (such as when district courts issue national injunctions) "short circuit our process," Justice Thomas remarked, adding "The way we're doing it now is not a thorough way" of doing it.

Justice Thomas further noted that such filings have increased because advocates are getting more aggressive and clever in pursuing such legal strategies, putting the court on a compressed schedule, and lower courts are issuing more national injunctions. The latter, Justice Thomas remarked, are something the Court will "have to address."

Justice Thomas also echoed Justice Kavanaugh's approval of the new oral argument process. The new format, which combines traditional open questioning with seriatim questioning by seniority, is "more thorough" and "polite," even if it means arguments last longer.

Among some of the other tidbits from his remarks that may be overlooked, Justice Thomas said that the Court's composition after Justice Breyer was confirmed—and which remained stable for over a decade—was his "favorite court." That Court, Justice Thomas said, was like a family. It "may have been a dysfunctional family" but it was a family, he said. Something like the leak of the Dobbs opinion draft would have been "unthinkable" during that time.

Justice Thomas also praised Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, saying she deserves far more credit than she gets, and repeated concerns that a Court in which eight of nine justices attended the same two elite law schools does not "reflect the country." He also explained why he tries to make his judicial opinions clear and understandable to non-lawyers.  It was also noted that in four years Justice Thomas will be the longest-serving justice in the Court's history.

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Justice Brett Kavanagh spoke at the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference in Austin, Texas today. According to a Bloomberg report, he discussed the "pressure" created by emergency filings, including appeals of nationwide injunctions or other extraordinary relief entered by lower courts. From a Bloomberg report:

Speaking Friday in Austin, Texas, Kavanaugh lamented the strain the expedited timeline places on the justices and said it leads to decreased output in other areas.

"This puts pressure on us," he said during remarks at a US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit conference. "We're appellate judges; we don't like making snap decisions or decisions without lots of briefs or lots of lower court opinions. It's a challenge for us. I think we're dealing with it as best as we can in an imperfect situation."

Kavanaugh, in response to a question from moderator Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, said that in order to decide emergency issues the court must "take a peek at the merits, and that's really hard." This becomes circular, he said, "because we're going to decide the merits a couple of years from now." . . .

Resolving issues on the emergency docket is keeping the court from writing more opinions in merits cases, Kavanaugh said. . . .

"It occupies a lot of time," he said.

It is interesting that he made these remarks at the Fifth Circuit judicial conference, as the Fifth Circuit has been responsible for more than its fair share of "shadow docket" filings.

Justice Kavanaugh also indicated that he thinks the Supreme Court should hear more cases—more like 75 per term instead of 60. As I have noted on this blog, Justice Kavanaugh often votes to grant certiorari in cases the Court ultimately denies.

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