Each year, Barrett explained, the Court receives around 4,000 petitions for certiorari, or requests to review a lower court’s ruling. But lately, the justices have been accepting more and more cases that are still pending in the lower courts. These are coming not to be decided conclusively, but in hopes of having the high court stay (or pause) a lower court’s injunction while litigation plays out. The Trump administration had sought the emergency relief after lower courts held that these “roving patrols” amounted to illegal racial profiling. Barrett did pull back the figurative curtain somewhat by discussing certain Supreme Court traditions.