Deranged Rhino Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 The old saying goes, "If you're young and conservative it means you have no heart. If you're old and liberal it means you have no brain." But apparently the highest judges in the land trend differently: A typical justice nominated by a Republican president starts out at age 50 as an Antonin Scalia and retires at age 80 as an Anthony Kennedy. A justice nominated by a Democrat, however, is a lifelong Stephen Breyer. The current nine justices haven’t been shielded from these westward winds. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who joined the court in 1988, has historically had a score solidly to the right of center, but last term he found himself slightly to the left for the first time. Justice Stephen Breyer has drifted from just left of center to solid liberal. Even Justice Antonin Scalia has liberalized somewhat from his extremely conservative positions in the late 1990s. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/supreme-court-justices-get-more-liberal-as-they-get-older/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Do those trend lines make sense? Other than Kennedy, the conservative justices seem pretty much on par with where they started. Liberal justices just get more liberal. Seems like the sharper slope should be the blue line, not the red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Technically it shouldn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandius Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Because politics and even SCOTUS decisions are downstream from culture. The nation's culture has continued to veer wildly left, so, of course, SCOTUS decisions will, too. 10 years ago, Anthony Kennedy would not have ruled for national gay marriage. Never mind 20 years ago, 50 years ago, etc. I didn't read the article but it probably said something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I have as much or more respect for old people than anyone, but let's face it, they get dumber by the minute. And when someone started out as a hippie commie or professor cookie, getting dumber does not exactly lead to choices that are good for society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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