Supreme Court Ideology

In this activity you will gain a greater understanding of how the current Supreme Court justices
are ranked in terms of their constitutional ideology.

Step 01: Answer the following questions by reflecting back on your readings for this chapter.
Why are justices labeled liberal or conservative? It is based on how they interpret laws and the
constitution.
How is this determined? (Remember that liberal and conservative in terms of the Supreme Court
is different than in other areas of politics.) It is based on how they vote in each case and their past
experiences before they were chosen to be on the Supreme Court.
Step 02: Go to Supreme Court Ideology Project website http://sct.tahk.us/. Read the
introduction page and answer the following questions:
How does this site determine the ideology for each of the justices? It uses the Bayesian ideal
point estimation to update our beliefs about the location of Supreme Court justices, following the
work of Martin and Quinn and others. We begin with a prior belief about the location of each
justice and update these beliefs after each opinion delivered by the court, learning from the
justices votes what their underlying ideologies are likely to be.
Is there a difference in determining ideology for old justices vs. new ones? Explain. Yes, the
new justices ideology is based on what can be inferred about their ideological position relative to
the other justices sitting and the justices they replaced. It is based on probability and then proven
right or wrong depending on how they vote.
Step 03: Click on the Current Beliefs tab on the left-hand side of the web page. Read the
information and answer the following questions:
Which of the justices are conservative? Rank them from most conservative to least conservative
Thomas, Scalia, Alito, Roberts and Kennedy are the most conservative.
Which of the justices are liberal? Rank them from most liberal to least liberal.
Ginsburg, Sotomayer, Breyer and Kagan are the most liberal.
Which two justices are most moderate?
Kagan and Sotomayor
Which two justices are most extreme?
Thomas and Ginsburg
Step 04: Learn about the historical ideologies of court members. Go to the Ideological History of
the Supreme Court, 1937-2007 (alternate link:
http://www.targetpointconsulting.com/scotusscores-labels.html). Watch the following video:
http://vimeo.com/4515162. Review the information and answer the following questions:
Historically, has the Supreme Court as a whole been more liberal or conservative?
It has been more liberal overall.

Have the Chief Justices been more conservative or more liberal over the years?
They have been more liberal over the years.
Name two justices that were historically more moderate?
Byron White and Tom Clark
Which justice was most conservative?
William Rehnquist
Which justice was most liberal?
William O Douglas
Can you find a justice that changed his/her views over time from liberal, to moderate,
to conservative?
Harry Blackmun
During the Bush V. Gore case in 2000, was the court more liberal or conservative?
More conservative
Step 05: Review the following actual cases and see if you can predict how the court voted as a
whole and how each of the justices voted individually. Make your prediction prior to looking up
information about the case or how each justice ruled. The nine justices are: Roberts, Alito, Scalia,
Thomas, Kagan, Sotomayor, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer. Review the facts of each case and the
question and then make your predictions. Remember that you are first determining which justices
voted yes and no to the question and then explaining why that fits their ideology.
Case 1 J.D.B. v. North Carolina 2010
Facts of the Case
A North Carolina boy identified as J.D.B. was 13-year-old special education student in 2005
when the police showed up at his school to question him about a string of neighborhood
burglaries. The police had learned that the boy was in possession of a digital camera that had
been reported stolen. The boy was escorted to a school conference room, where he was
interrogated in the presence of school officials. J.D.B.s parents were not contacted, and he was
not given any warnings about his rights under the 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona, such as
the right to remain silent or to have access to a lawyer. J.D.B. confessed to the crimes, but later
sought to have his confession suppressed on the basis that he was never read his Miranda rights.
He argued that because he was effectively in police custody when he incriminated himself, he
was entitled to Miranda protections. In December 2009, the North Carolina Supreme Court held
that it could not consider the boys age or special education status in determining whether he was
in custody, and because he was not in custody, he was not entitled to Miranda warnings.
Question: Should courts consider the age of a juvenile suspect in deciding whether he or she is
in custody for Miranda purposes?
Justices voting yes based off of ideology- Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kennedy- these
justices usually vote more liberally.
Justices voting no based off of ideology- Thomas, Scalia, Alito, Roberts- these justices vote more
conservatively.
Case 2 Turner v. Rogers 2010
Facts of the Case
In January 2007, Michael Turner appeared in Oconee County, S.C., Family Court because he was
behind in his child support obligation. He did not have an attorney, and he was not asked whether
he needed or wanted representation. He presented some evidence of his inability to work, but the
court made no finding as to Turners indigent status. The judge held him in contempt and
sentenced him to one year in jail. The South Carolina Supreme Court rejected Turners argument
for court-appointed counsel under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Question: Do poor people who face incarceration for civil contempt have a Sixth Amendment
constitutional right to a court-appointed attorney as protected by the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment?
Justices voting yes based off of ideology- Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kennedy; they
are the justices who vote more liberally.
Justices voting no based off of ideology- Thomas, Scalia, Alito, Roberts; These are the justices
who vote more conservatively.
Case 3 Connick v. Thompson 2010
Facts of the Case
John Thompson sued the Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office, the District Attorney, Harry
Connick, in his official and individual capacities, and several assistant district attorneys in their
official capacities under 42 U.S.C 1983 in a Louisiana federal district court. Mr. Thompson
served fourteen years on death row for a crime he did not commit because prosecutors failed to
turn over blood work in a related case. The jury awarded Mr. Thompson $14 million against Mr.
Connick in his official capacity. On appeal, an en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit rendered a tie vote and; thus by rule, affirmed the district court.
Question: Can a prosecutors office be held liable for the illegal conduct of one of its
prosecutors, on the theory that the office failed to adequately train its employees, when there has
been only one violation resulting from that deficient training?
Voting yes- Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan and Kennedy- because they are usually more
liberal.
Voting no- Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas- because they are usually more conservative.
Step 06: Go to http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010 to review each of these cases. Answer the

following questions:
How did your predictions match up with the actual rulings of the justices?
Pretty consistently- there were a few that voted against their usual manner, so they were on the
opposite side I thought they would be.
Why do you think you were accurate or inaccurate?
I was mostly accurate because the judges seem to vote pretty consistently with their own
ideology.
Did you feel that the justices voted along ideological lines in each of the cases? Why or why not?
Mostly they voted along their ideological lines in these cases. They all seemed to stick together
with the same judges and seem to vote the same waythose in the middle are the judges who
switch sides most often.
Step 07: Submit all of your answers to the above questions. (Use the Open button below.)

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In this activity you will gain a greater understanding of how the current Supreme Court justices

are ranked in terms of their constitutional ideology.

It has been more liberal overall.

Step 06: Go to http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010 to review each of these cases. Answer the

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