I think as a historian this is an interesting article, albeit by Yahoo. The Supreme Court is supposed to be a body that analyzes cases before it on the basis of the constitutionality of said case…no matter what “side” a decision falls on (conservative or liberal). Each case, outside of those that fall under original jurisdiction, are supposed to be coldly analyzed in order to decide each cases’ constitutionality. Instead, we see a Court opinion that falls on the side of either the conservative or liberal Justices’ point of view, whichever is in the majority. The more that I see the decisions that come down from the highest court in the land the more I see political slant in the various decisions…until now. Justice Roberts, whether one is a liberal or conservative, has finally seemed to decide a case based on his interpretation of the Constitution, not political partisanship. The same, in my view, cannot be said of Justice Ginsberg who ALWAYS takes the liberal point of view or Justice Scalia who ALWAYS takes the conservative point of view. Is this true jurisprudence or political ideology at work on the court? At the very least, in my view, it is a bit disheartening. This seemed to be the case on Bush v. Gore as well (even though I voted for President Bush). The point is that from my vantage point, the Court seems to come down on ideological lines too much to be considered a true “judge” of what is constitutional or not.

     Has the Court become, as so much of our government, so jaded by partisanship that its objectivity can be called into question? Can it be safely said that Justice Sotomayor and Justice Ginsburg will vote the liberal point of view? Conversely, can it be safely said that Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas will always vote in the conservative vein? The answer is a resounding YES for all of the above. This is not proper jurisprudence, but political activism in its barest form. I can’t help but think of the 16th Century Star Chamber in that the decisions can certainly be accurately predicted. The latter in favor of the wishes of King Henry VII, the former in favor of whatever political party has gotten their partisans on the Court.

     Finally, I find it interesting that Justice Kennedy and Justice Roberts, both appointed by Republican presidents have become the swing voters of late, with Kennedy garnering the most “swing” decisions. Both are considered conservative Justices. Where are the liberal “swing” Justices? Rest assured that Justices Ginsburg, Kagan, Breyer or Sotomayor won’t be anytime soon.