Age of Supreme Court Justices:
Five conservatives: Avg. age 61, Median age 63
Four liberals: Avg. age 71, Median age 71
Five conservatives: Avg. age 61, Median age 63
Four liberals: Avg. age 71, Median age 71
You may think that #Kavanaugh replacing Kennedy (who was considered the "swing vote" on the Supreme Court) will result in a major shift to the right. Yet it's worth noting that Kennedy - in the courts last term that ended in June - voted consistently with conservatives /1
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The court made 63 decisions in its last term. Of those, 19 were 5-4 rulings. "Swing vote" Kennedy voted with conservatives (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch) 14 times. He voted with the liberal justices (RBG. Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) zero times (SacBee analysis) ##
The court made 63 decisions in its last term. Of those, 19 were 5-4 rulings. "Swing vote" Kennedy voted with conservatives (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch) 14 times. He voted with the liberal justices (RBG. Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) zero times (SacBee analysis) ##
Some historians say this will be the most conservative Supreme Court since the 1930s - when justices drove Franklin D. Roosevelt crazy w/their steady opposition to his New Deal programs. FDR tried to "pack the court - expand it beynd nine members, which met with howls of protest
Philosophically speaking, there are now five votes that could view things like Roe v. Wade, affirmative action and certain rights of criminal defendants as unconstitutional (among other things)
