One could make a colorable argument that SCOTUS cases decided by one vote are the most important decisions of the Court. One could also argue that unanimous opinions are either the most or least important decisions. Unanimous decisions require the cohesion of all of the justices from both sides of the ideological aisle. With such…
Category: justices
Justice Brown Jackson Won’t Shift the Court, but Will She Shake Up the Liberals?
One of the loftiest decisions that a president can make is the choice of an individual to nominate to the Supreme Court. On average a new appointment to the Supreme Court is made every 2.5 years. President Trump lucked out in this respect with three nominations. Four presidents — Andrew Johnson, Harrison, Taylor, and Carter —…
6-3 is the new SCOTUS 5-4
What this means? The Court’s most common split vote this term was six justices in the majority and three justices in dissent. The most frequent six justices in the majority were the Court’s conservative justices and the most frequent in the dissent were the three liberal justices. Why this matters? The Court’s biggest cases came…
Justice Breyer: Just the Facts
With Justice Breyer’s retirement tomorrow here are some facts about the justice and his career on and before joining the Court: He was the 22nd longest serving justice at 28 years on the Court (Douglas was longest serving at 36 years). Was nominated at 55 by President Clinton in 1994 Had a well-qualified rating from…
What will the Roberts Court’s most lasting legacy be?
After the Court overruled Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision many people would likely answer that the Roberts Court’s lasting legacy will be doing away with a constitutional right to an abortion. Looking at individual decisions though, the Roberts Court has structurally changed quite a bit of policy with landmark decisions in areas such…
Comparing The Draft and Final Opinions in Dobbs
The official opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was released this morning. According to Jake Truscott it was the third-longest Supreme Court opinion since 1946 and the longest of this term by over 10,000 words (the second-longest so far was the NY Rifle opinion released two days prior). When Politico released the draft opinion…
The Importance of Egbert v. Boule
The Court’s latest decision came on Wednesday when the justices ruled in Egbert v. Boule. 29 decisions remain before the end of the term. Why is this decision important? The case has quite far reaching implications by further limiting the scope of Bivens claims (this Court has already constrained Bivens application in previous decisions) against…
Is the Roberts Court the Least Productive Court of All Time?
The Supreme Court was not always the powerful institution is it today. The original lack of power was part of the Court’s institutional design. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federal Paper #78, “…the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power; that it can never attack with success either of the other…
Scalito
Justice Alito is often compared to Justice Scalia in his level of conservativism. In my opinion there are some significant differences between the two. A recent piece by Aziz Huq in Politico describes, “[Alito’s] early, subtly disparaging nickname, ‘Scalito,’ suggests he is a mere mini-me clone of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.” The data show…
Was it Ever Really Roberts’ Court?
It has been a long two weeks for the Supreme Court. Since the leak of Alito’s opinion in the Dobbs abortion case, several of the Supreme Court Justices have come forward offering their thoughts on the leak. According to the Washington Post, “Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. called the leak ‘absolutely appalling.’ The Supreme…
The Justice Behind the Dobbs Draft Opinion
Justice Alito, one of two Supreme Court nominees by President George W. Bush, has turned out to be one of the most certain conservative votes on the Court. Alito’s draft majority opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson was released by Politico last week shining a spotlight on the very real possibility that the Court will overturn…
What to Expect from Justice Breyer’s Retirement and Judge Jackson’s (Presumptive) Confirmation to the Court
Now that Senator Manchin declared he will vote to confirm Judge Jackson to the Supreme Court, Jackson’s confirmation in a week or so is all but a foregone conclusion. Will Jackson usher in a new era of judging on the Court? This outcome is very unlikely. The Court now has six conservative, republican nominated justices…
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