The Supreme Court and the opinion-assignment guessing game
As we saw this term, by late May the Supreme Court begins releasing the bulk of its merits decisions, and with it a familiar guessing game starts among court watchers.…
Who is the Supreme Court’s most “ideological” justice? And does that question even make sense?
We often describe the court through a familiar shorthand: three Republican-appointed conservatives (Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch) at the far right of the court; three Democratic-appointed liberals…
Breaking down the birthright-citizenship decision
Trump v. Barbara, the birthright-citizenship case that dominated headlines this term, was emblematic of how the court can be predictable in closely followed cases while still leaving room for surprises.…
How Supreme Court precedents die before they are overruled
When the Supreme Court says a precedent has been “abandoned,” the real work has already been done. Read more Nine days in June That was the story of Lemon v.…
The two Roberts courts
The current court is often described as composed of six Republican-appointed conservatives and three Democratic-appointed liberals. And that shorthand explains many of the court’s most visible decisions. But it also…
The Roberts court’s record on the First Amendment
The Roberts court is often treated as especially protective of the First Amendment. It is true that the court has reshaped free speech law across such areas as campaign finance,…
What oral argument reveals about Supreme Court unanimity and division
Empirical SCOTUS is a recurring series by Adam Feldman that looks at Supreme Court data, primarily in the form of opinions and oral arguments, to provide insights into the justices’…