For 11 years between 1994 and 2005 there was no turnover in membership on the Supreme Court. There were four changes to the Court’s composition between 2005 and 2010 and then another four changes between 2017 and 2022. Of the four newest justices on the Court, three were appointed by President Trump and one by…
Tag: Justice Gorsuch
Working Overtime
Supreme Court Justices have limited mandatory writing duties. Most of the justices are assigned majority opinions to draft. A few justices assign the majority opinion writing duties. This assignment is made by the Chief Justice if he is in the majority and otherwise by the most senior associate justice in the majority. Obviously a justice…
A New Era in SCOTUS Textualism
Legal interpretation begins with a legal text. At least in theory it does. While in practice this is not always the case, textualism has become synonymous with conservatism in recent Court eras primarily due to Justice Scalia’s reliance on the language of statutory texts. In practice, a textualist approach is not limited by judicial ideology and…
Something to Talk About
Oral arguments have always been central to Supreme Court adjudication. In early Supreme Court practice oral arguments were the primary means by which the justices learned about cases. Currently, oral arguments convey less original information to the justices, but still are helpful tools for the justices to learn about dimensions in each case not brought out…
The Next Nominee to the Supreme Court
For all of the criticism the Trump Administration has received in recent weeks and months, one thing that Republicans almost universally agree upon is that President Trump has done well in reshaping the federal judiciary. This distinction even led to the genesis of stress balls with the caption “But Gorsuch!” distributed at the most recent Federalist…
The Justices in Oral Arguments 2016
Supreme Court oral arguments are the only times that litigators directly and verbally interact with the Justices about pending cases. The scholarship on whether these arguments factor into decision outcomes is mixed with some suggesting that the Justices come into oral arguments with predefined views in most cases while others suggesting that a variety of…
The New Normal: Justice Gorsuch’s First Week of Supreme Court Oral Arguments
In some ways, this was just another week for the Supreme Court. The Court released decisions with the Court’s right splitting with the Court’s left. Orders were set forth in many petitions pending before the Court. The Justices heard seven oral arguments. But there was a new voice in the proceedings. A voice that sought…
Below the Surface of the Gorsuch Confirmation Hearings
Justice Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court after a relatively quick and seamless confirmation process. Much went into this process, however, and even though these hearings have become more or less a formality, they are a process that involves much preparation and an extensive time commitment. Justice Gorsuch’s answers to questions were prototypical of…
Empirical SCOTUS 