From left, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan in the justices' conference room before Kagan's investiture ceremony. (Steve Petteway / Supreme Court)
"For most of the last two decades, Supreme Court conservatives led by Justice Antonin Scalia dominated the debates during oral arguments. They greeted advocates for liberal causes with sharp and sometimes caustic questions, putting them on the defensive from the opening minute.
But the tenor of the debate has changed in recent months, now that President Obama's two appointees to the court, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, have joined the fray and reenergized the liberal wing." Sotomayor, Kagan shift Supreme Court debates to the left