“The two major sanctions which a justice can use against his colleagues are his vote and his willingness to write opinions which will attack a doctrine the minority or majority wishes to see adopted” as noted by Walter Murphy (1964). The role of the United States Supreme Court is to interpret the constitutionality of laws and statutes. The most visible, and arguably the most important part of the job of any Supreme Court justice is writing opinions. Opinions provide context to the general public and explain why a justice voted the way he did. Some of the Court’s most famous decisions were not unanimous, such as Miranda v. Arizona, Bush v. Gore, and Citizens United v. FEC. All of those cases were decided on a 5-4 margin; if those cases were …show more content…
She explores Sandra Day O’Connor’s departure from the Court, her voting behavior and the impact that her exit would have on the Court. She notes, “O’Connor, through her position as the Court’s center, had been the critical fifth vote for the victories - few though they were - of the moderate-liberal wing of the Court in abortion, church-state, campaign finance, race, and death penalty issues” (p.60). This statement suggests that O’Connor was willing to move her vote along the political spectrum so long as the laws fit her interpretation of the Constitution Alternatively, Coyle (2013) also discusses Kennedy, whose political opinions appear to factor rather heavily into his judicial opinions. Of him she writes, “Justice Anthony Kennedy would assume the center position in most closely decided cases [...] he would swing to the left less often” (p. 60). The addition of Roberts and Alito to the Court only served to solidify the so-called conservative contingent of the Court that Kennedy’s opinions brought it. This cohort, as well as its liberal counterpart, suggests that political party is an important factor in opinion writing. However, the idea of a swing vote in general suggests that partisanship can be set aside for effective …show more content…
Some would argue they don’t play a role at all. “...Another justice, speaking only on background, explained, “I think that when Justice X sits down and starts working on a a case, that justice doesn’t think, ‘This is the result I want to reach because I’m a [liberal Democrat or a conservative Republican].’ That justice does what I do: reads the briefs, reads the statute, reads the cases” (Coyle, 2013, p.7). The objective legalist perspective is significant because it is the ideal; it is what the Court should be. Sandra Day O’Connor exemplified this perspective because she was, more often than not, the deciding vote in 5-4 decisions. She voted impersonally; what mattered to her were a case’s merits rather than its partisan implications. This trend has continued to an extent with Justice Kennedy, though he doesn’t always enjoy the title of “swing vote.” The less a given opinion relies upon the feelings and party affiliation of a justice, the more legitimate an opinion seems with the passing of
What is also interesting to note, is that the balance of power and who ultimately gets seated on the Supreme court is decided on Capitol Hill. Up until this point in the review, there has been very little discussed about how the legislature plays into the decision process of how the justices are seated (Robertson, 2004). However, as it is critical for a sitting president to have a Supreme Court sided towards the president’s political affiliation, it is equally as important to have a legislature that will also seek to have the nominee on the panel of justices. The author suggests, that this hope is quickly diminished when during the presidency, the legislature’s majority is the opposing party. The author does an excellent job in communicating this dynamic in reflecting on President Clinton’s attempt to have his justice nominees appointed during his time in office (Burke, 1993). The issues of getting nominees approved was also driven by a number of critical turnovers within the office of the presidency. This point underscores that lobbying is not limited to companies and organizations but to the power of the president to push justice nominations through the system (p.44). Finally, another aspect that was discussed that hindered the process was that President Clinton did not hold his ground and in each instance where he faced resistance, the president would remove the candidate presenting another with the hope that the new nominee would pass the nominee process
There has been a big increase in the number of unanimous decisions i.e. 9-0, and the liberals and conservative has been unted in upholding first amendment rights-(Riley vs California 9-0 that police require warrants to saech cell phones) (Mcullen vs Coakley 9-0 buffer zone around abortion clinics are unconstitutional) but on the more contentious cases the 5-4 split showed a political divide
Thomas was like Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the fact that he defaulted to being silent. He rarely spoke in oral argument. The rare occasion when he did speak he spoke his extreme views “Thomas was engaged in a lonely, often solo, effort to restore the Constitution in Exile, the world of the Supreme Court precedent before 1937.” (Tobin 117) Because of Thomas’s extreme views, Chief Justice Rehnquist rarely assigned the majority
Peggy Noonan, on February 18, 2016, wrote “The Court, Like the Country”. She wrote this article to explain about how the president should change his mind on replacing Justice Scalia. She also talks about how the Justice Antonin Scalia disputes in 1992’s wide-range abortion decision, Planned Parenthood v Casey. Scalia believe that this will end the troublesome era in the history of our Nation. The latest Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ended his dispute in Obergefell v. Hodges. It was a decision based on same-sex marriage in 2015. She felt that half part of the country or maybe more was conservatives. The decisions that people disagreed, Scalia was able to help.
There are oblivious things in life that restrict us, they are called rules. Nobody prefers to play a game by the guidelines, but there are reasons for them to exist. The purpose is to maintain the fairness of the game. And for that reason, we have professionals like, umpires, referees, and justices who help to maintain the integrity of these procedures. Nobody pays to watch the umpire in a ballgame, but they are needed to enforce the rules. Similarly, a justice is needed to aid a nation comply by the rules. Comparably, Chief Justice John Roberts (Roberts) of the United States Supreme Court is an outstanding example of that. In this article, the author explains why Roberts makes decisions the way that he does even though they are considered constraints by many. The decisions made by justices should be unbiased and non- sympathetic to a particular political party or else the political system will suffer.
Yet courts and those opposed are only interested in what gerrymandering looks like on the outside not the dangers of partisan gerrymanders.
Many senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy numerous times in the past few weeks. My response is that the judicial role is one in which judges and justices must apply the law, and not make it. Judges and justices have a limited role and these members of the judicial branch should have humility, recognition that we operate within a system of precedent, and be as open as possible in the decisional process with colleagues who are striving to ensure fairness and equality in the constitutional rights for the individuals in America.
That day came sooner than expected. My student picked a oad from south texas to the Los Angeles area. He made an excellent choice except for one reason. That reason was that load couldnt deliver early, adn it gave us a week to go just 1400 miles. We had disacussed those thigs before, but he made a mistake and we dealt with it. How, well we stayed in south texas for three days, partying at night across the border in Mexico, and sleeping it off at the terminal each day. Then we left for California. This was his trip, and I was just a buddy riding with him. He called all the shots, you know, where and when to get fuel, meals, breaks, and all the rest. WHe said he was ready, but he failed. WHy did he fail, because he was doingquite well until we
Justices Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, and Samuel Alito made up the majority of the court with the opinion founded upon the assertion that DNA testing is a comparable method of identification to fingerprinting and photographing arrestees. Justice Anthony Kennedy, wrote the opinion of the court, “sits at the court’s ideological center and joins the court’s four-member liberal wing about a third of the time when it divides along partisan lines.” As a Republican, this makes him stand out as he actively resisted the kind of political polarization faced by the court. Kennedy’s swing vote is important in the consideration of our formal and informal actors in the courts decision as he, and the other justices, are considered the formal actors.
Unlike the other branches of government, the Constitution is largely silent on judicial qualifications and the nomination process of judicial appointments other than stating that justices should exhibit "good behavior" and are confirmed with the “advice and consent” of the Senate. Thus, tradition largely dictates judicial nominations and the nomination processes that follow. The need for a judicial appointment can occur when a sitting justice dies in office, choses to retire because of old age or for disability reasons. Clare Cushman in Courtwatchers provides examples of other justices in the past resigning to pursue other political ambitions. During the nineteenth century, some justices “had no qualms about campaigning for political office, either secretly or openly, while still on the bench” (pg. 229). Chief Justice John Jay is a prominent example of political ambitions when he was elected governor of New York. Others have stepped down to pursue peace like Justice John H. Clarke did when left in 1922 to lobby the United States to join the League of Nations.
Earl Warren was a politician and eventually a renown jurist. He served as the 30th Governor of California and the 14th Chief Justice of the U.S. As the 14th Chief Justice, he was in charge of the Warren Court, now known as one of the most liberal courts in the history of the U.S. Warren led landmark decisions like Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Reynolds v. Sims, and Miranda v. Arizona that strengthened the power of the judicial branch to be in par with the other two branches. Warren and his court desegregated public schools and other public sectors, defended the rights of the accused, banned in-school prayers, and instated ‘one man-one vote’ rule in voting districts. Warren’s dedication in desegregation showed how he succeeded in keeping all segregation cases unanimous. Warren, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson, headed a panel known as the Warren Commission to investigate President Kennedy’s assassination. Furthermore, Warren, during his time in Court, nationalized the Bill of Rights to all states. Moreover, Warren and his Court in the landmark case of Griswold v. Connecticut, established and protected the right to privacy.
They allude to the unanimous 9-0 decisions the Supreme Court has made as a strong indication that the court remains neutral. Chief Justice Roberts also recently stated at a Boston law school: “We don’t work as Democrats or Republicans” (Savage, 2016, p. 1). Moreover, Justice Scalia, when defending his conservative vote in a 5-4 ruling, claimed: “’I prefer not to take part in the assembling of an apparent but specious unanimity’” (Kuhn, 2014, p. 3). However, decisions become unanimous only when the ideological stakes are not large enough. As for extremely controversial topics, nearly every single recent 5-4 decision has been divided perfectly along ideological lines. The conservative majority, praised by Republicans, has unbelievably struck down major parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, upheld an individual’s right to own guns, and has allowed unlimited corporate spending in campaigns (Kuhn, 2014). These types of decisions have caused the divided Supreme Court that we have today. Looking at a more psychological and scientific perspective on this overall issue, an investigation by Anna Harvey and Michael J. Woodruff of the New York University found that the direction of decision and vote of the Supreme Court is frequently contaminated by confirmation bias; justices seeking out facts and reasoning that
Against this factors are; Chief Justice John Roberts emphasize on the SSM as being a democratic disrespect, judicial putsch by associate justice Antonin, inextricably linked by justice Samuel Alito and many other factors. Thus, it is essential to consider the actual changes in the opinion count resulting from a decision and the political backlash to adequately determine the relationship between the Supreme Court’s decision and the public
Sports is unlike any other business, the product is highly unpredictable, which in turn can heavily impact the consumer’s thoughts and feelings. This means the event can be managed and facilitated perfectly, yet fans may still go home with negativity and disappointment depending upon the result on the field. The following is my consumer perspective for two FSU athletic events.
Eighteen is a frightening age. I feel as though I have already experienced a lot and come a long way in discovering who I am. As I enter adulthood, I finally feel in control of my own life. Along with this, I also understand that I am still very young and I have a lot of years ahead of me. I constantly find myself wondering what I want to do with the one life that I have been given.