The End of Super-Precedents

Supreme Courts have a unique feature in the American system: they get to define the precedent that other courts must follow. Therefore, contrary to what you might hear in certain corners of social imagination, Supreme courts are NOT the precedent-following institutions; the lower courts are. But in terms of jurisprudence, this can get a little […]

The Conservative Blabbermouth

People forget that when the Court let Dobbs in, it wasn’t clear if the cert was viable. The justices passed on whether to grant it numerous times before finally pulling the trigger. It was only the onboarding of Amy Coney Barret (ACB), people thought, that provided the fourth vote. And when they did let Dobbs […]

What’s at Stake

For years the Supreme Court has been an institution with an immunity to America’s contemporary social affliction. Political pathology hasn’t held the driver’s seat. In fact, those who throw the loudest political stones at the Court are, themselves, partisans of one side or another decrying only that their favored social imaginations for the Constitution are […]

On the Failure of Martin-Quinn Scores

Why are scholars still using these scores as “ideology measures” for SCOTUS? The 2020 term just ended, and here is what the scores appear to say (see image below). They say that every Trump appointee, along with Roberts, are a set of justices who are less directional than the justices appointed by New Democrats. They […]

Terry v. US (2021): Good Example of How Law Matters in Judicial Politics

Judicial politics scholars have long been engaged in what at times is a poor conversation about whether and how law matters in SCOTUS. On Monday the Court gave us a ruling that was ripe with political saliency and content that can easily be seen with sharp attitudes. And yet, they were unanimous not in an […]

Why Kagan v. Kavanaugh Matters

Mark Joseph Stern has offered us an interesting prophesy in Slate. His thesis, a bit hard to extract, is that Kagan has become pissed at Kavanaugh for hardening to the right. And that the weird barbs she has been throwing at him in two cases this term, in Borden and Edwards, are evidence not of […]

Kagan v. Kavanaugh on Ideology Scores???

There is an interesting footnote in one of Kagan’s recent dissents which should be of interest to judicial politics scholars. Let me set this up for you. The Court in Ramos v. Louisiana held that the Constitution requires unanimous jury verdicts. It was a huge case for criminal procedural rights. The vote was 6-3, with […]

Coppins on Kavanaugh

It’s a lengthy read, but here are the key takes on judicial ideology: “Even as he climbed the ladder of Washington’s conservative legal establishment, Kavanaugh remained staunchly nonpartisan in his schmoozing. “He was the kind of conservative you could go out to dinner with,” says Ruth Marcus, a liberal columnist at The Washington Post who knew Kavanaugh […]