The new court upholds originalism, which has replaced its rival, living constitutionalism. One view of the dramatic change at the court is that it reflects a long-running debate between two constitutional theories, or competing ways of reading the document. Five makes a majority on the Supreme Court, but six can make a movement. Often, Chief Justice John Roberts, generally considered an institutionalist determined to safeguard the public perception of the court, or Gorsuch, widely seen as a libertarian-leaning protector of the rights of criminal defendants, immigrants and Native Americans, joined the liberals to flip a ruling.Ī supermajority of six conservative justices gives them the confidence to take on major cases. If there were only five conservative-leaning justices, they could not guarantee they would hold the majority necessary for a final vote. The court chooses the few cases it will hear from the thousands of applications for review. This altered not only the rulings of the court, but also the selection of cases the court would hear. These back-to-back appointments created a new supermajority of six conservatives on the court. Bush and Barack Obama, for example, each had two nominations over their eight-year presidencies, while Trump helped place three new members on the court within a single four-year term. Alito – plus the addition of three new conservative justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – all three nominated by former president Donald Trump within an unusually brief period of time. The change has been building over several years, driven by the long-standing beliefs of the older conservative justices – like Clarence Thomas and Samuel J. Observers of the new court mostly agree on how it changed, but disagree on what the justices are restless about. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, arguably the most liberal of the current justices, characterized the court’s controversial rulings in 2021 as the result of “ a restless and newly constituted court.” Brandon Bell/Getty Image Origins of the current court Jackson ruling outside the Supreme Court Building on June 24, 2022. People protest in response to the Dobbs v.
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