Introduction While few people would argue against the proposition that the Supreme Court Justices are some of the most intelligent legal luminaries in the United States, these luminaries often rule in opposing directions. The number of the Court’s split decisions often outnumber the number of unanimous decisions. During the 2021 Term, the number of 6-3…
Tag: judicial common space
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 —…
Does the Supreme Court React to Congressional Preferences?
In the 2019 case United States v. Davis, Justice Gorsuch began with an important statement regarding constitutional statutes. Gorsuch wrote, “In our constitutional order, a vague law is no law at all. Only the people’s elected representatives in Congress have the power to write new federal criminal laws. And when Congress exercises that power, it…
An Alternate Take on Trump’s Potential Supreme Court Nominees
Making sense out of who Donald Trump may nominate to the Supreme Court is a very different exercise than doing the same for Hillary Clinton. Trump, unlike Clinton, is not a career politician, and he has campaigned on a platform designating himself as an outsider looking to reform the Washington establishment. Trump’s list of potential…
Empirical SCOTUS 