A single term of the U.S. Supreme Court is an imperfect prism through which to survey the development of the law. It is at once too broad and too narrow: it encompasses a diverse range of legal issues but is limited to individual cases between adverse parties. The problem is inherent in the Court’s role as a primarily appellate body; for despite the fact that the Court picks its own docket, the questions and issues before it still must arise from actual cases and controversies. As such, its docket is dependent upon litigants, upon legislatures and agencies, upon state and federal actors. And there is consequently no linear development, no overarching logic, that governs the cases that come before the Court in any given term.
Nevertheless, we here at the LII hope you found our annual attempt at bringing order and clarity to the most noteworthy aspects of the Court’s work to be illuminating and useful. Please look for our preview of the 2014–2015 term in September, as well as our Bulletin Previews of each case before the Court throughout the term.