Scalia had a good comment on the Supreme Court's alleged partisanship. He said: justices are selected for their distinct judicial philosophies. Is it a surprise when they vote accordingly?
Also, some cases are more political than others. Most cases are not 5:4 votes. This is one of those political cases: where you come out depends on whether you view homosexuality as a protected characteristic where people's rights should trump the law as passed by the elected branches, or whether you don't view it as a protected characteristic in which case the default of deference to Congress wins out.
What's interesting are the political cases where the votes don't follow the politics. Look at the vote on Hamdi v Rumsfeld. That was a very political issue at the time, but the votes came out not along party lines at all.
It's also interesting to look at what happens when the parties change their positions relative to the justices they appointed. E.g. Stevens was appointed by a Republican and came out liberal. Thomas was appointed by a very moderate Republican but has come out very conservative. Roberts and Alito were both appointed by GWB, but the former has come out very moderate and the latter quite conservative.
> Scalia had a good comment on the Supreme Court's alleged partisanship. He said: justices are selected for their distinct judicial philosophies. Is it a surprise when they vote accordingly?
IIRC, if you assess the salience of particular political issues at the time a Justice is appointed, and then look at how they vote on those issues throughout their career, they tend to be pretty consistent with the appointing administrations views on issues that were of high salience when the justice was appointed to the Court, and less consistent the lower the salience of hte issue was at the time the justices are appointed.
This tends to support the idea that justices are much more appointed for the views on high-profile issues than any kind of broad "judicial philosophy".
I agree with your characterization but I don't think that qualifies for the label "partisanship." Partisans would go with the political flow of their party.
Also, some cases are more political than others. Most cases are not 5:4 votes. This is one of those political cases: where you come out depends on whether you view homosexuality as a protected characteristic where people's rights should trump the law as passed by the elected branches, or whether you don't view it as a protected characteristic in which case the default of deference to Congress wins out.
What's interesting are the political cases where the votes don't follow the politics. Look at the vote on Hamdi v Rumsfeld. That was a very political issue at the time, but the votes came out not along party lines at all.
It's also interesting to look at what happens when the parties change their positions relative to the justices they appointed. E.g. Stevens was appointed by a Republican and came out liberal. Thomas was appointed by a very moderate Republican but has come out very conservative. Roberts and Alito were both appointed by GWB, but the former has come out very moderate and the latter quite conservative.