General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLet's say a Supreme Court Justice resigned today because of health reasons or whatever...
What happens to the cases coming up in April, May, or June? Will their vote be on record, or will any case that's decided after they leave be with only 8 Justices?

Walleye
(37,774 posts)Buckeyeblue
(5,785 posts)I think you have to be part of the court when the order is issued.
He won't resign. Ever.
bucolic_frolic
(48,633 posts)He was only allowed to sit and be silent. Obviously.
unblock
(54,553 posts)But not, afaik, at the Supreme Court.
I don't know if this is policy of if the question has ever come up.
Polybius
(19,159 posts)That's when the abortion and NY gun-control cases will be decided. I expect a 5-4 decision on the former, and a 6-3 one on the latter.
Response to unblock (Reply #4)
Polybius This message was self-deleted by its author.
Beastly Boy
(11,660 posts)And a purely hypothetical answer would be: eight justices will make the decision. Not sure what happens in the event of a tie. I believe the case goes back to the previous court or the decision of that court prevails.
But I very much doubt that Kavanaugh will resign any time soon.
Lettuce Be
(2,341 posts)You can't vote on a case before hearing it, so he couldn't vote. They had only eight the entire time they left a seat vacant because it was "an election year." Still hard to believe they were able to get away with that.
DetroitLegalBeagle
(2,274 posts)If they haven't voted, then the court votes with whatever members are left.
Princess Turandot
(4,835 posts)Then the decisions gets committed in writing by whomever is assigned to writing the opinion, in a process that can take awhile.
So, if it's after oral arguments/conference for a case that the hypothetical justice departs, their vote would normally count. If they departed before arguments on a case, they are no longer involved in the outcome.