We fixate on the titanic ideological battles that yield painful 5-4 decisions, but there is strong evidence that with this Supreme Court, the law is usually not a matter of debate. I had missed this story in the NYT the other day:
WASHINGTON — FOR years, particularly after the 2000 election, talk about the Supreme Court has centered on its bitter 5-to-4 divisions. Yet it is worth reflecting on a remarkable achievement: The court has agreed unanimously in more than 66 percent of its cases this term (and that figure holds even if Monday’s remaining two cases, on the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage and on public-sector unions, are not unanimous). The last year this happened was 1940.
The justices’ ability to cross partisan divides and find common ground in their bottom-line judgment in roughly two-thirds of their cases — including the two decisions handed down Thursday, restricting the president’s ability to issuerecess appointments during brief breaks in the Senate’s work, and striking down a Massachusetts ban on protests near abortion clinics — should remind us that even in this hyperpartisan age, there is a difference between law and politics….
Sixty-six percent. That’s a figure that should be reassuring to those of us who believe in the importance of the rule of law.
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The abortion clinic decision that invalidated the 35 foot limit for protestors was decided 9-0. That was a puzzling one. Seems like these first amendment limits are rather arbitrary. The funeral limit of 200 feet was allowed to stand but a much smaller limit on the abortion clinics was rejected unanimously.