re: #348 jbarelli

Yes, some folks do consider Justice Stevens to be the “most liberal Justice”. The record doesn’t really reflect that.

He has supported the death penalty, although not with minors and people with mental defects. While that’s not a far-right view, it’s not exactly what I’d call a liberal perspective either.

He authored the decision that allows federal authorities to arrest medical marijuana patients, even when state law allows its use. Hardly a liberal viewpoint.

He wrote the lead opinion allowing states to require photo ID at polling places. Not a liberal position.

Finally, he wrote the decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, siding with Chevron and the Reagan EPA and overturning the lower court ruling. Not liberal. Not at all. (Although it was probably a well reasoned decision, all things considered.)

Justice Souter’s record is also rather conservative, albeit not as conservative as some would have liked.

It almost seems that the position of each justice is being determined by his or her vote on Bush v. Gore.

If you want to dispute the widely held view that Stevens is the most liberal justice (a minority would put him in 2nd place behind Ginsberg), go right ahead. No justice’s voting record is, of course, ideologically completely orthodox - that’s why people take the entire record into account instead of cherry-picking a few cases.

And the Bush v. Gore insinuation is just absurd. Do you have any idea of the number of 5-4 rulings made by the SC? Do you dispute that they mostly favored the conservative position, with Kennedy occasionally siding with the liberal wing?