The Justices · October Term 2026
Opinion Watch
13 of 13 argued cases await decision as of November 10, 2026. How long each has waited, against every Term since OT2016, and which Justices are likely writing.
The clock
Days since argument. The bar runs to the longest wait on the page; the tick is the median wait for a case argued in the same sitting in earlier Terms. “Out by now” is the share of those cases already decided after as many days.
| Case | Sitting | Days waiting | Out by now | Likely author |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson v. United States Congress25-735 | Octoberargued Oct 5 | 36 | 2%typical by Feb 22 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Suncor Energy (U.s.a.) INC. v. Commissioners of Boulder County25-170 | Octoberargued Oct 5 | 36 | 2%typical by Feb 22 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm.25-498 | Octoberargued Oct 6 | 35 | 1%typical by Feb 23 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Department of Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan25-579 | Octoberargued Oct 7 | 34 | 1%typical by Feb 24 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Beaird v. United States25-5343 | Octoberargued Oct 13 | 28 | 0%typical by Mar 2 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Salazar v. Paramount Global25-459 | Octoberargued Oct 14 | 27 | 0%typical by Mar 3 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Maxwell v. Dinis25-5930 | Novemberargued Nov 2 | 8 | 0%typical by Mar 22 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Younge v. Fulton Judicial Circuit Dist. Att’y25-352 | Novemberargued Nov 2 | 8 | 0%typical by Mar 22 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy25-581 | Novemberargued Nov 3 | 7 | 0%typical by Mar 23 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Guerrero v. Johnson25-1003 | Novemberargued Nov 4 | 6 | 0%typical by Mar 24 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Hoffmann v. Wbi Energy Transmission, INC.25-159 | Novemberargued Nov 9 | 1 | 0%typical by Mar 29 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Nielsen v. Watanabe25-417 | Novemberargued Nov 9 | 1 | 0%typical by Mar 29 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
| Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards, LLC25-966 | Novemberargued Nov 10 | 0 | 0%typical by Mar 30 | Any Justice — none has written from this sitting yet |
Who is writing what
The Chief Justice (or the senior Justice in the majority) assigns each sitting’s majority opinions so that every Justice writes about the same number. Chips count each Justice’s signed majority opinions from that sitting so far; per curiam decisions are not counted.
October sitting · Oct 5–Oct 14 · 6 cases, 6 awaiting decision
- Roberts0
- Thomas0
- Alito0
- Sotomayor0
- Kagan0
- Gorsuch0
- Kavanaugh0
- Barrett0
- Jackson0
No majority opinion from this sitting yet, so every Justice is a candidate.
November sitting · Nov 2–Nov 10 · 7 cases, 7 awaiting decision
- Roberts0
- Thomas0
- Alito0
- Sotomayor0
- Kagan0
- Gorsuch0
- Kavanaugh0
- Barrett0
- Jackson0
No majority opinion from this sitting yet, so every Justice is a candidate.
How reliable is this?
Checked against every signed majority opinion from OT2016 to OT2025 (567). When each opinion issued, its author was among the Justices with the fewest majority opinions from that sitting 93% of the time; picking at random from the same Justices would have been right 63% of the time. With one case left in a sitting, the rule names 2.7 Justices on average and was right 83% of the time, against 30% by chance. It misses when a Justice is recused, when an assignment moves after a majority is lost, and in sittings of ten or more cases, where someone writes two.