Posted on 06/29/2021 9:28:29 AM PDT by bitt
One of the little pleasures of June, at least for Supreme Court watchers, is a game I call “Supreme Court Bingo.” Through it, we can get some idea of who is writing key opinions at the end of the court’s term, and get a sneak peek at the future of American law.
To understand how this works, one must understand the rhythms of the esteemed body. The high court hears a set number of cases each month; after oral argument, the justices meet in their conference room, alone, to discuss and debate the cases. They vote, and then the senior justice in the majority assigns an author to the case. The chief justice is treated as the most senior justice, therefore John Roberts outranks Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer even though they were appointed to the court before he was.
This can be consequential. If you can figure out who’s writing an opinion, you know that jurist is in the majority. So if Sonia Sotomayor is in the majority, you can be fairly confident that the opinion will not be strongly conservative. Likewise, a Thomas opinion is unlikely to be far to the left. Moreover, it can tell us something about the tone and reasoning of the opinion. Thomas is not known for writing a narrow opinion; in a narrow outcome he’s more likely to be concurring than the primary author.
How do we figure out authorship ahead of time? The justices also try their best to keep the number of opinions even each month, and across the term. As the term goes on and the justices announce their opinions, it narrows the list of potential authors for each remaining opinion.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
There are only two opinions left after today. AFP and Brnovich.
Alito and Barrett only have 4 opinions. It is likely that they each have one of the remaining.
Alito probably has Brnovich and Barrett probably has AFP.
Meh, it’s probably going to be one traitor or another writing the opinions, so what’s the difference?
Will anybody retire?
I labored through the entire article.
Glad the author didn’t write about the two-seam v. four-seam fastball.
I give you credit for keeping very close tabs on things.
Only if Deep State wants it.
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