Supreme Court expected to issue first opinion of term on Monday

The Supreme Court is expected to announce its first opinion of the term on Monday following an unusual delay from historical trends.

The court’s website on Friday updated to designate Monday as an opinion issuance day. It will also mark the first time the justices return to the pre-pandemic tradition of announcing their decisions live in the courtroom.

Justices release most of the court’s decisions in May and June but tend to hand down the first decision in the late fall or early winter, usually in a noncontroversial case.

This term, which began in October, marks the slowest-ever release of the first opinion, according to Empirical SCOTUS blog author Adam Feldman.

The court has released its first opinion within 70 days of hearing its first argument every year since at least 1870, according to Feldman, but that figure has now surpassed 100 days this term.

When the justices convene on Monday, they’ll also restore a tradition of reading summaries of any majority opinions in the courtroom. The justices have not done so since the pandemic shifted operations virtually in 2020.