SCOTUS, Why Do Justices Move Left, But Never To The Right?

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  • Ingomike

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    All my life left appointed judges have largely ruled as the supporters of the President that nominated them. Not so on the right. Of the right appointed judges there always seems to be two or three that the left can get to join them, one at the time, to get left rulings. This takes the pressure off one guy to just fully flip. But why will there never be a lefty judge that will "grow" to support the 2/A? Why does it always go the other way?

    And just a point for our legal professionals, don't pizz on my back and tell me it's raining, a lot of this crap they rule on they make up, it's not in the text or even background writings.

    Recently ruled a Trump EO could not be done that simply changed an Obama EO. WTF?


    I have read article after article on this topic and never really finish satisfied with the answers. I have read all the hypothesis of influence of liberal press, education establishment, and now social media. Even that they mellow and become more liberal with age. Just what is in the water they serve in SCOTUS chambers?
     

    rhrlaw

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    A lot of factors. Justices at that level are generally high IQ, attended a handful of the same schools, navigated the same system of advancement, and run in similar social circles. They're going to have different opinions, but range isn't going to be as varied as it would be across the general population. Contrary to popular opinion, even a justice who has pro-life beliefs isn't going to just walk into an abortion case with the mindset of "ok, I'm pro-life, thus I'm going to figure out how to get that conclusion from this case". They generally respect their role and are better than most at sidelining their personal morals from case judgment.
     

    Ingomike

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    A lot of factors. Justices at that level are generally high IQ, attended a handful of the same schools, navigated the same system of advancement, and run in similar social circles. They're going to have different opinions, but range isn't going to be as varied as it would be across the general population. Contrary to popular opinion, even a justice who has pro-life beliefs isn't going to just walk into an abortion case with the mindset of "ok, I'm pro-life, thus I'm going to figure out how to get that conclusion from this case". They generally respect their role and are better than most at sidelining their personal morals from case judgment.

    Im sure I have a bias but I do believe that the the judges considered right do it that way and possibly the source of my frustration is the others do not, as they always seem to stay the course on significant left issues so it is not an even give and take. The left always takes...
     

    Hoosierkav

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    I am not a lawyer, so I'll let the lawyers speak as to the lawyering side of this. I have found that the news articles do a hatchet job of accurately reporting the suit and the rationale behind the verdict--they're into headlines and sensationalism, which just feeds the rage machine.

    I agree--they're supposed to leave their biases aside and evaluate the suit using the law, not their opinion (ie, abortion), which is why I chuckle when the masses decry one ruling as stupid and "that's what happens when you stack the deck", but then the next ruling is "That's good. They're smart". C'mon.
     

    NKBJ

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    People on the Left are activists first, because their politics are their religion.

    Everyone has their political persuasions grounded in their religious beliefs. It's just more obvious in some people because evil shines in a fallen world.
     

    NKBJ

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    Oh, about justices moving leftward, don't you suspect extortion?
    Especially when not towing the line gets you a one way trip to the happy hunting grounds?
     

    2A_Tom

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    Pay attention to the Senate Confirmation Hearings. If a Constitutionalist has a hard time (Thomas, Gorsich, Kavanaugh) the Left has nothing on them. If they get through generally unscathed (Robertsl) it was wink, wink, nudge, nudge, we have the pictures of him with little boys. Make it look like we do not want him but let him go.
     

    Leadeye

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    Follow the money/influence and power.

    This^

    These people live in an aberration of America, the richest place on the planet where money beyond imagination moves around like the wind. When you are immersed in this culture 24/7 how could you not expect individuals not to behave this way. Every man a king as the saying used to go, because in dc there is the general perception of unlimited resources. The downside is that at least some of the resources are coming from your pocket, and the rest is conjured from thin air.
     

    injb

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    Follow the money/influence and power.

    This^

    These people live in an aberration of America, the richest place on the planet where money beyond imagination moves around like the wind. When you are immersed in this culture 24/7 how could you not expect individuals not to behave this way. Every man a king as the saying used to go, because in dc there is the general perception of unlimited resources. The downside is that at least some of the resources are coming from your pocket, and the rest is conjured from thin air.

    What do money and power have to do with the surpeme court judge's decisions though? You say "follow" it, but follow it where? They have no prospect of promotion, they generally work until they die or retire completely, and they can't be removed...so what could they possibly have to gain or lose by voting according to their conscience?

    The simple explanation for why it works this way is that the republican party is more ideologically diverse. There's far more tolerance for people thinking independently and breaking ranks. So the republican appointees are more likely to be independent thinkers, and hence more likely to disagree with each other. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
     

    2A_Tom

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    Maybe If we gave Supreme Court Justices an unbelievable Golden Parachute Retirement incentive.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    Mitchell
    Ted Cruz has a podcast that’s pretty good and he broached this topic in a recent one. His take was that republicans tend to nominate justices that they believe they can get confirmed. I wish I was better at remembering names so forgive me if I’m misremembering here but he went on to mention a couple of examples. One (I think) was Roberts. Bush II had the choice of a justice that had a record of constitutional decisions but went with Roberts because he didn’t (apparently) and Bush II felt like he could get him through the process. The other was Souter. Same thing. One option was safe and the other would have been a fight. Bush I went with safe.

    That, in a nutshell, is quintessential republican governance.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    Or quintessential Democrat opposition.

    I’m more convinced than ever that republicans simply aren’t conservative. (At least conservative as in constitutionally disciplined, small government minded). They like the label...some of them anyway. They want to use it to get elected but they don’t care too much about advancing real conservative agenda.
     

    BugI02

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    I’m more convinced than ever that republicans simply aren’t conservative. (At least conservative as in constitutionally disciplined, small government minded). They like the label...some of them anyway. They want to use it to get elected but they don’t care too much about advancing real conservative agenda.

    I've become convinced that congressional elected office needs to be one and done, without the attempt to rationalize the length of term between Senator and Congressman. All Representatives seem to do is campaign for re-election anyway

    It will put an end to careerism right out of the box and, for better or worse, make the framework provided by the party more useful and important across many different seat holders and encourage them to get something meaningful done during their time there if they hope to hold any other office
     
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