From the Introduction by Cynthia Rapp:

     In chambers opinions offer a unique opportunity to study the reasoning of an individual Justice sans input from the rest of the Court. These opinions also offer the only insight into the criteria used by the Justices to decide when to grant an application, as such guidelines are not contained in the Court's rules. This collection attempts to gather the in chambers opinions written from February 14, 1926 to November 18, 1998, in one publication. In addition, several indices to the opinions are provided, including chronological, alphabetical, and topical lists, list sorted by Justice, and by disposition, and a lit of cases that were orally argued in front of a Circuit Justice. ...

     ... In chambers opinions were not reported in a routine manner until the 1969 Term, when they began appearing in the United States Reports. Prior to this time most could be found in unofficial Supreme Court reporters. Some opinions have no official citation. The most recent of these is Tomaiolo v. United States (Harlan, Circuit Justice, 1962). Many of these unreported opinions were found in the files of the Clerk's Office, and others were found in the Court's archives. One opinion, United States ex rel. Knauff v. McGrath, appears to have been published only in the Congressional Record.

When we heard about the Supreme Court's publication of "In Chambers Opinions" for the internal use of the Court, we thought it sounded like a great resource for people seeking emergency relief - prisoners and publishers come to mind - and for students of the Court. The result is now available from the Green Bag Press.

The first three volumes of "In Chambers Opinions" are available for $150. You may pay either by check mailed to the Green Bag Press, 6600 Barnaby Street N.W., Washington, D.C., 20015, or by credit card through PayPal by using the link below:

2007 Supplement to In Chambers Opinions

2006 Supplement to In Chambers Opinions

2005 Supplement to In Chambers Opinions

Ms. Rapp discovered opinions that had escaped the notice of earlier authorities, and we hope that even more will turn up. To that end, we will also be publishing an annual supplement to "In Chambers Opinions," which will include new and newly-discovered opinions. In fact, we already have several, which we have assembled in the soon-to-be-published 2004 Supplement to In Chambers Opinions. You can subscribe to supplements for future years either by check mailed to the Green Bag Press at the above address or pay by credit card through PayPal using one of the links below: