A2 exam update: American Politics

Whatever happened to the “Kennedy Court”?

The Supreme Court is ostensibly half way through its term, with 35 cases decided, and 32 to come.

But Linda Greenhouse in the New York Times provides an excellent snapshot that students could refer to in their forthcoming exams.

If you remember, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s vote was key in last year’s term when he out of 68 votes he cast only two dissenting.

So the Roberts Court quickly became dubbed the “Kennedy Court”. This year he has dissented a total of five times.

Further, this time last year 13 from 41 decisions were made on the basis of 5 to 4 votes. This year there has only been a single 5-4 vote.

A number of important cases have still to be determined, such as the DC guns case, another war on terror case, as well as a vote on the death penalty.

But several important cases have already been decided. Kentucky’s use of lethal injection was upheld 7-2, Indiana’s photo ID at the polling booth by 6-3, and by 7-2 a national regulation on child pornography was upheld.

Reasons explaining this apparent shift are complex, but the key point I would stress to students is that it would be wrong to say that the Court is clearly split down ideological lines. As Greenhouse points out, Justice John Paul Stevens, who is seen as the leader of the liberal bloc, voted with the majority in the three cases mentioned in the previous paragraph.