"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, lists sorted by Justice, and by disposition, and a list of cases that were orally argued in front of a Circuit Justice." -- from the Introduction, p. v.