The U.S. Supreme Court occupies a singular place in American democracy. It is the branch designed to say what the law means, to check the power of presidents and Congress, and to protect constitutional limits even when politics is running hot.
That is the theory. But in practice, the Court is now often described in the same language as Congress or the White House — as a political institution divided between conservatives and liberals.
In her new book, "Last Branch Standing," legal analyst and SCOTUSblog editor Sarah Isgur argues that this familiar media frame gets the Supreme Court wrong.
The shorthand is easy to understand: six of the current justices were appointed by Republican presidents, and three were appointed by Democrats. That has produced a common narrative of a rigid 6-3 conservative majority. But Isgur says that picture is too simple to explain how the Court actually works.
She points to voting patterns and unexpected alignments among the justices. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for example, has sometimes been more likely to agree with liberal Justice Elena Kagan than with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch. And the Court’s decisions do not always fit neatly into partisan expectations, including cases involving speech, religion, executive power and culture-war issues.
Isgur argues that Court watchers should look beyond what she calls the “X-axis” of left versus right. She says there is also a “Y-axis” of judicial temperament and philosophy — a spectrum that runs from order-minded institutionalists to more disruptive legal thinkers willing to unsettle existing doctrine.
Seen that way, she suggests, the Court may look less like a 6-3 divide and more like a shifting 3-3-3 alignment.
Guest:
Sarah Isgur is a legal analyst for ABC News, editor of SCOTUSblog, and co-host of the Advisory Opinions podcast. She has experience as a former Department of Justice official and clerked for a federal appellate judge.
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