Welcome to the Sept. 28 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.
“As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.”
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Fall is already upon us, dear reader! And a new SCOTUS term kicks off next week. In honor of the new term, we thought you’d enjoy some key facts about the 2025-2026 term’s opinions. Let’s gavel in.
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Grants
SCOTUS has not accepted any new cases to its merits docket since our Sept. 7 issue. The court has accepted 25 cases for the 2026–2027 term.
Opinions
SCOTUS has not ruled on any cases since our Sept. 7 edition. The court issued rulings in 73 cases for the 2025-2026 term.
Opinion spotlight: 5-4 rulings, 6-3 rulings, and lone dissents
During the U.S. Supreme Court’s October Term 2025, 26 cases were decided unanimously. Seven cases were decided by a 5-4 vote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor authored two 5-4 rulings of the term, more than any other justice. Two of the cases were decided per curiam, an unsigned Court ruling without a majority author specified. The following table shows the number of 5-4 opinions authored by each justice during the 2025 and 2024 terms, and since joining the Court:
| Justice | October Term 2025 | October Term 2024 | Since joining the Court |
| Chief Justice John Roberts | - | 1 | 34 |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | 1 | - | 41 |
| Justice Samuel Alito | - | 2 | 29 |
| Justice Sonia Sotomayor | 2 | - | 12 |
| Justice Elena Kagan | - | - | 12 |
| Justice Neil Gorsuch | - | 2 | 17 |
| Justice Brett Kavanaugh | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Justice Amy Coney Barrett | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson | - | 1 | 2 |
Nineteen cases were decided in a 6–3 vote split among justices appointed by a Republican president and those appointed by a Democratic president. Four cases were decided in a 6–3 vote with a mix of Republican-appointed and Democratic-appointed justices in the majority.
Eight cases were decided by a 8–1 vote in which one justice authors an opinion dissenting in full from the majority without any other justices joining, known as a lone dissent. Cases decided by an 8–1 vote where more than one justice partially joins the dissent, or the dissenting justice partially dissents and partially concurs with the judgment are not considered a lone dissent in this analysis.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored four lone dissents, the most by a single justice in the term. The following table shows each justice's lone dissents during October Term 2025 and since joining the Court, and the term year when they authored their first lone dissent:
| Justice | October Term 2025 | October Term 2024 | Since joining the Court | Term year, first lone dissent |
| Roberts | - | - | 1 | OT 2020 |
| Thomas | 2 | - | 36 | OT 1991 |
| Alito | 1 | - | 12 | OT 2009 |
| Sotomayor | - | - | 15 | OT 2011 |
| Kagan | 1 | - | 1 | OT 2025 |
| Gorsuch | - | 3 | 8 | OT 2017 |
| Kavanaugh | - | 1* | 1 | OT 2024 |
| Barrett | - | - | - | - |
| Jackson | 4 | - | 5 | OT 2022 |
* Kavanaugh’s first lone dissent since joining the Court, in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis (2025)
Federal court action
Nominations
- President Donald Trump (R) has not announced any new Article III nominees since our Sept. 7 edition.
The president has announced 73 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2025. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.
Committee action
The Senate Judiciary Committee has reported two new nominees out of committee since our Sept. 7 edition.
- Anna St. John, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- Greg Cook, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Confirmations
The Senate has confirmed three nominees since our Sept. 7 issue.
- Angela Colmenero, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Kasdin Mitchell, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- Matthew Byrne, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Vacancies
The federal judiciary currently has 25 vacancies, all of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 16 pending nominations.
According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there were 15 upcoming vacancies in the federal judiciary, where judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status.
For more information on judicial vacancies during President Trump’s term, click here.
Do you love judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? We figured you might. Our monthly Federal Vacancy Count monitors all the faces and places moving in, moving out, and moving on in the federal judiciary. Click here for our most current count.
Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.
Or, keep an eye on our list for updates on federal judicial nominations.
Correction: In our Sept. 7 edition of Robe & Gavel, there was an error in our Vacancies section. We stated that Alan Albright assumed senior status from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. He did not assume senior status, he resigned from his position. We regret the error.
Looking ahead
We’ll be back on Oct. 5 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, gaveling out!
Contributions
Myj Saintyl compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Kate Carsella, Ellie Mikus, and Sam Post.