Good morning and welcome to Supreme Court Brief! With the year rapidly drawing to a close, we focus on 2023 and what to expect in terms of arguments, decisions and other court-related issues. We also preview a fun essay appearing in 2023 about the origins of the phrase "en banc" and how to pronounce it. Plus, scroll down for Congress' disposal of another Roger Taney statute.

This is the final Supreme Court Brief of 2022 and the final one by this reporter. I am retiring from The National Law Journal but not from covering the Supreme Court. I will continue to provide analysis for PBS NewsHour and perhaps occasionally for the National Law Journal. You can reach me at: [email protected]. It has been an honor to write for you and to get to know so many of you. Best wishes for a healthy and safe 2023!

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

What Will 2023 Bring?

By now it's pretty obvious that the justices are saving their "fire power" (decisions) for the new year. As Adam Feldman of Empirical SCOTUS told us earlier, it has been a very long time since the court has gone as long as it has without issuing a ruling in the first half of the term. That's not to say the justices haven't been busy. Since the start of the current term, they've disposed of more than 20 emergency applications, many of them requests for stays of executions.

And so with eyes on 2023, here are some cases and other items to watch for: