Over the past five Supreme Court Terms the justices have issued 157 separate opinions from Court orders. These are cases that are not orally argued and do not receive full merits consideration. We do not necessarily know all the justices votes in these cases – only the ones the justices made public through signing onto separate opinions. Of these 157 opinions, only two include at least one conservative and one liberal justice signed onto the same opinion. Both are dissents from Justices Gorsuch and Sotomayor in criminal cases. The other 155 separate opinions split the justices ideologically or are solo authored. The spotlight on the Court’s polarization could not be clearer.
Tag: shadow docket
Amid Record-Breaking Consensus the Justices’ Divisions Still Run Deep
How divided is the current Supreme Court? On the surface the answer appears mixed. Much conversation over from the past several years surrounding the Court’s decisions has had to do with partisan and ideological divisions among the justices. These divisions and the Court’s rightward shift appear a reality as evidenced by the systematic victories of…