Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has shut down for the 06-07 session, various commentators are weighing in on the new direction the court is heading.
Big surprise: it's getting more conservative!
The more interesting analysis looks at the nature of that shift and whether it is driven by the ideological conservatism of Scalia and Thomas, or is more pragmatic and restrained--and whether Roberts and Alito will turn out to be thus. Is the narrow (and fragile given Kennedy's moderation) conservative majority likely to overturn precedents established by the Warren and Burger courts or simply scale them back?
Thus far the answer seems to be that they will scale them back, not because Scalia and Thomas do not want to overturn precedent, but because Roberts and Alito (and Kennedy) generally refuse to join them, which denies them the necessary majority. Things may change on the court, but now I think focus ought to be directed at the political environment. Will there be a political reaction to its decisions? Think of how Roe v Wade continues to motivate social conservatives. Add Engle v. Vitale, Miranda v. Arizona, and Griswold v. Connecticut and you had a slew of opinions that rallied what had been a dormant movement.
Will these recent decisions prove to have the same impact for a liberal movement? Stay tuned.
Here are links to analyses of the session:
- Scotusblog.
- Slate.
- BusinessWeek.
- CNN.
- prawsblawg.
- Reuter's.
- Associated Press.
I pulled these from scotusblog, which might be the best resource for links to sc commentaries.
For my current students who are considering taking my class in the second summer session, the writing assignment will focus on analyzing a case of your choice.
