Supreme Court Term A Conservative Disappointment

Many conservatives saw the most recent Supreme Court term as a potentially transformational one, with challenges to be heard on affirmative action, abortion rights, union fees, and electoral districts all on the docket. But with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February, and the Republican Senate’s ongoing blockade of any Obama nominee to replace him, led to unexpected, and often liberal, leanings on those issues. With the Court split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals, whatever cases were decided tended to go in the liberal direction, or else ended in deadlock with no precedent set. “It has long been said that if you add one new justice, you get an entirely new court,” said Gregory G. Garre, former solicitor general for President George W. Bush. “This term showed that if you take away a justice, you get an entirely new court.”