A closer look at the Supreme Court’s 2023 term (October 2023 to July 2024) paints a more nuanced picture than critics would like Americans to believe, according to numbers analyzed by veteran court watchers Adam Feldman and Jake Truscott of SCOTUS Blog.
Here’s a breakdown of how the justices (six conservatives and three liberals) have voted during this period:
Breakdown of decisions
During the 2023 session, the Supreme Court will hear 62 cases, with two of them being dismissed. Of the 60 cases decided, the Court has ruled unanimously in 27 cases and has ruled 6-3 split in 22 cases. Repeated 6-3 split decisions are often seen as a clear indicator of the Court’s conservative leanings, but an analysis by SCOTUS Blog suggests the reality is more complicated.
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Half of the 6-3 decisions, 11 of 22, fell along the familiar conservative-liberal split. But this term saw a notable increase in 6-3 decisions with mixed ideological coalitions. Unlike previous terms, when 6-3 splits often fell along predictable conservative-liberal lines, this term featured more diverse patterns.
Carrie Severino, a lawyer and author of “Justice on Trial: Kavanaugh’s Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court,” noted in an interview with Fox News Digital that during this court’s term, “about 40 percent of its decisions have been unanimous.”
Former President Trump is facing a ruling on his immunity claim in the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
“You don’t expect this pattern if the court is a bunch of far-right extremists,” she said. “It looks at the law, as laid out in the Constitution, first and foremost, and it rules based on that. And sometimes that means cases where you could say the outcome is conservative because there are conservative plaintiffs on one side of the case and liberal plaintiffs on the other, but that’s not what the court is looking at or what it’s focused on.”
“But the relentless negative advertising campaign against the Supreme Court has not stopped, and I think it’s very damaging to the Court and cynical and shortsighted,” she added. “But the fact is, the Supreme Court is an incredibly moral court.”
Excluding the landmark cases of 2021, this term has been the most ideologically divided compared to past years since the conservative majority took over in 2020. This suggests that while conservatives still wield significant influence, the ideological makeup of the 6-3 ruling has become less predictable.
Frequency of justice votes
Chief Justice John Roberts has held the majority most frequently this term, 96% of the time, ahead of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who came in second at about 95%. Justice Amy Coney Barrett came in third at 92% of the time. On the liberal side, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson have held the majority least frequently this term, with Justices Kagan and Sotomayor tied for the least frequently at 71%.
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Pro-life women celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, June 24, 2022, after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Notable 6-3 decision
The 6-3 decision, which attracted some attention, speaks to the ideological diversity of the Supreme Court.
- Trump vs. the United StatesHe was referring to the prosecution of President Trump for trying to disrupt the results of the 2020 election.
- Roper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless Corp. v. Department of Commerce: Focuses on the powers of federal agencies.
- City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson: Addressed homeless encampments in public spaces.
- Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkeshi: Relevant SEC Tribunal.
- Garland v. Cargill: Relates to the ban on bump stocks.
- Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP Convention: Fixed the voting map.
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Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Meanwhile, the assault on the Supreme Court continues: This week, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris called on Congress to impose term limits and codes of conduct on the court, and also included draft limits on presidential immunity.
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Biden wants to limit justices’ terms to 18 years, which, if fully implemented, would allow the president to appoint new justices every two years. supreme court The code of conduct should require judges to “disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.”
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
