rd (Republican) appointed Justice John Paul Stevens to the Court. President Reagan (Republican) appointed Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy to the Court. President George Bush (Republican and the present president's father) appointed Justices David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Court. President Clinton (Democrat) appointed Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the Court.
Ideologically, however, the Court does not reflect the seven-to-two Republican-to-Democrat division of the Supreme Court. Justices Stevens and Ginsberg most consistently vote for liberal positions on issues brought before the Court, while Justices Scalia and Thomas most consistently vote for conservative position on issues before the Court. Chief Justice Rehnquist also has a strong conservative voting record in the Supreme Court, although not to the extent that is true of Justices Scalia and Thomas. The moderates in the center are Justices Souter, Breyer, O'Connor, and Kennedy. Justice Kennedy votes conservative more than liberal. In contrast, to Justice Kennedy, Justices Souter and Breyer vote liberal more than conservative. On five-to-four decisions, of which there are many in the Rehnquist Court, Justice O'Connor tends to be the swing vote, in that the liberal-conservative division in her voting is more balance than that of the other justices.
The ideological division of the Supreme Court, while not necessarily reflecting the exact ideological split in the national population of the United States, does mirror the fact that a wide ideological rift divides Americans. All of the rhetoric following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 cannot paper over this ideological split in the population. Similarly, the ideological split in the Supreme Court likely will affect civil liberties in the United States for some time to come.
Inner Workings of the Court Related to Decision-Making
Consensus decis...