The Supreme Court’s October Term begins, by federal statute, on the first Monday in October and runs until the Justices finish their work the following summer, usually by late June or early July. Each term is named for the year it opens, so October Term 2025 covers everything the Court does from October 2025 through summer 2026.1Supreme Court of the United States. The Court and Its Procedures Inside that nine-month window, the Justices hear roughly 60 or more argued cases, screen thousands of petitions asking them to take on new ones, meet privately to vote, and release written decisions on a schedule that gets heavier as the term winds down.
Sittings and Recesses
The term is not one continuous stretch of hearings. The Court divides its time into “sittings,” when Justices hear oral arguments and release opinions and orders from the bench, and “recesses,” when they study argued cases, prepare for upcoming ones, and draft opinions. The two alternate on a roughly two-week cycle from October through the end of April: two consecutive weeks of arguments, then about two weeks off the bench.
That rhythm is why the Court’s public calendar can look sparse. A recess week is not a vacation. It is where most of the writing and reading actually happens.
Oral Arguments
Oral arguments run from October through late April. The Justices generally hear cases on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings, with sessions starting at 10:00 a.m. and two cases scheduled each day.2Supreme Court of the United States. Oral Arguments Occasional afternoon sessions get added when the docket is heavy.
Each side typically gets 30 minutes to present and answer questions, so most cases take about an hour of courtroom time. That half-hour moves fast. The Justices are aggressive questioners, and attorneys who arrive expecting to deliver a rehearsed speech usually get interrupted inside the first sentence. When the federal government has a stake in the outcome, the Solicitor General’s office often takes a slice of one side’s time or argues separately.
The Private Conference
After arguments, the nine Justices meet in private conference to discuss the cases and vote. No law clerks. No staff. During argument weeks, the Justices typically meet on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the first item of business is usually the week’s certiorari petitions.3United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures
When they turn to an argued case, the Chief Justice speaks first, followed by the Associate Justices in order of seniority. A preliminary vote follows the discussion. The senior Justice in the majority then assigns who will write the Court’s opinion; if the Chief Justice is in the majority, that assignment power belongs to the Chief. These initial votes are preliminary. Justices sometimes change their positions while opinions are being drafted, and a majority can shift before the final decision is released.
Decisions about which petitions the Court has agreed to hear or declined are published in an orders list, typically released at 9:30 a.m. on the Monday after a conference.4Supreme Court of the United States. Case Distribution Schedule
When Opinions Come Out
Written decisions are released throughout the term, but the pace is uneven. Oral arguments end in April, and the Justices spend the remaining weeks finishing opinions.1Supreme Court of the United States. The Court and Its Procedures The heaviest volume lands in May and June, and the most contentious, closely divided cases often come out in the final days before the term closes. The Court aims to resolve everything by the end of June, though the term has occasionally stretched into early July.
Most decisions are signed opinions identifying the authoring Justice. The Court also issues unsigned per curiam opinions, which come out in the name of the Court as a whole without a named author. Per curiam opinions are often shorter and tend to appear where the legal question has a relatively clear answer under existing precedent.
Every argued case must be decided before the term ends. If the Justices cannot reach a resolution, they can order the case reargued the next term, though this is rare. When the Court splits evenly, which can happen if a Justice is recused, the lower court’s ruling is affirmed without a written opinion and creates no binding precedent.
Emergency Applications Outside the Regular Calendar
A growing share of consequential rulings does not move through the sittings-and-opinions cycle at all. Emergency applications ask the Court to block or allow a law, executive action, or lower court order to take effect while litigation is still ongoing. Commentators call this the “shadow docket” because the rulings are typically unsigned, lack detailed reasoning, and arrive without oral argument or full briefing.
Each Justice is assigned responsibility for one or more federal circuits under 28 U.S.C. § 42, and emergency applications are directed to the Justice who handles the relevant circuit.5Supreme Court of the United States. Circuit Assignments That Justice can act alone on some matters or refer the application to the full Court for a vote. An applicant seeking an emergency stay must first show the relief was sought from the lower courts and denied; the Supreme Court will not entertain an application in the first instance except in extraordinary circumstances.6Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Rule 23 – Stays The shadow docket has expanded significantly in recent years, particularly in disputes involving federal executive power, and has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.
Summer Recess and the Long Conference
The Court typically recesses at the end of June, but the Justices keep working. Through the summer, they review new certiorari petitions, handle emergency applications, and prepare for cases already scheduled for fall argument. The volume is substantial: during recess periods, the Justices evaluate roughly 130 petitions a week.1Supreme Court of the United States. The Court and Its Procedures
Because no regular conferences are held over the summer, petitions pile up. By late September, roughly 2,000 are waiting. The Court clears the backlog at the “Long Conference,” a private meeting traditionally held in the final days of September, just before the new term opens. The Long Conference functions as the unofficial kickoff to the October Term, and the resulting orders list, often lengthy, is released the following Monday. Cases that survive the screening get placed on the argument calendar for the months ahead.
Following the Term in Real Time
Public access to the Court’s work has expanded considerably. Same-day transcripts of oral arguments have been posted on the Court’s website since the October 2006 Term, and audio recordings of every argument have been available online since the October 2010 Term, posted on Fridays at the end of each argument week.7Supreme Court of the United States. Transcripts and Recordings of Oral Arguments The Court began providing live audio during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued the practice.
Opinions, orders lists, and argument calendars are all published at supremecourt.gov. For researchers needing older records, oral argument transcripts are archived on Westlaw back to 1990 and on Lexis Advance back to the October 1979 Term.7Supreme Court of the United States. Transcripts and Recordings of Oral Arguments If you want to track the term as it unfolds, the orders list every Monday after a conference is where most of the news breaks, with the biggest signed opinions saved for late spring.