Supreme Court's Interesting New Math: 3-3-3

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Supreme Court's Interesting New Math: 3-3-3
The 6-3 conservative majority isn't issuing decisions quite as expected, at least so far

When Amy Coney Barrett replaced Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court last year, it resulted in what is usually described as a 6-3 advantage for conservatives over liberals on the court. But two big decisions Thursday—one on ObamaCare and the other on a Catholic group that refuses to work with gay couples—suggest that a different kind of breakdown is happening on the court. Coverage:

In an analysis at CNN, Joan Biskupic writes that 3-3-3 seems to be the new pattern. One trio is the "center-right" of Chief Justice John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Another trio is made up of liberals Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. And the last is made up of conservatives Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch.

In Thursday's rulings, the three liberals joined the center-right (as did Clarence Thomas) in the ruling that dismissed a challenge to ObamaCare. And though the court sided with the Catholic group in the other case, the protection offered was limited, and the decision went nowhere near as far as the more conservative justices wanted.

At Politico, Josh Gerstein notes that the three more conservative justices, particularly Alito, issued sharply worded critiques seemingly aimed at the other GOP appointees. "Some liberal legal commentators noted that the most carefully dissected rhetorical sparring is now taking place among members of the new six-justice conservative majority, with the three remaining liberal justices often left as mere spectators," Gerstein writes.


https://www.newser.com/story/307565/supreme-courts-interesting-new-math-3-3-3.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_top

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1. Interesting. K&R for visibility.