Fact Check: Justice Barrett's Agreement with Justice Alito
What We Know
The claim states that Justice Amy Coney Barrett's agreement on outcomes with Justice Samuel Alito decreased from 80% to 62% after her second term. To evaluate this, we need to look at the voting patterns of both justices over the relevant terms.
According to an analysis of Supreme Court voting patterns, Justice Alito was indeed in the majority in 80% of decisions during the 2022-2023 term (source-3). However, the specific claim regarding Justice Barrett's agreement rate with Justice Alito is not directly supported by the sources available. The data shows that the court has become increasingly polarized, with a significant number of decisions being split along ideological lines (source-1).
Moreover, a report on the Supreme Court's performance indicated that the alignment between justices can fluctuate based on the cases presented and the ideological leanings of the court at any given time (source-4).
Analysis
The assertion that Justice Barrett's agreement with Justice Alito dropped from 80% to 62% lacks direct citation from the provided sources. While it is true that the Supreme Court has shown increasing polarization, with many decisions being made along partisan lines, the specific percentage drop mentioned in the claim is not substantiated by the data available (source-2).
The sources do indicate that the court is experiencing a high rate of concurring opinions, which suggests that even when justices vote similarly, they may not always agree on the reasoning behind their votes (source-1). This could contribute to variations in agreement percentages over time.
Additionally, the context of the Supreme Court's ideological shift underlines the complexity of interpreting voting patterns among justices. The current court's conservative majority has led to a significant increase in conservative rulings, which may also affect how justices align with one another (source-2).
Conclusion
Needs Research. The claim that Justice Barrett's agreement with Justice Alito slid from 80% to 62% after her second term is not directly supported by the available data. While there is evidence of increased polarization and shifts in voting patterns among justices, the specific percentages cited require further verification from reliable sources. The complexity of the Supreme Court's dynamics suggests that more comprehensive analysis is needed to substantiate or refute this claim.
Sources
- In a Volatile Term, a Fractured Supreme Court Remade ... New York Times
- What We Learned This Term About the Supreme Court's ... New York Times
- Samuel Alito Ballotpedia
- Where We Are at the End of the Supreme Court's 2022 Term Empirical SCOTUS
- Supreme Court Term Limits Brennan Center
- AP-NORC poll: 2 in 3 in US favor term limits for justices News4Jax
- Supreme Shift II: A Conservative Super-Majority Delivers ... NYSBA
- How a Term Limits Bill for Supreme Court Justices Could ... Fix the Court
