Stuart Taylor at National Journal takes on Justice Stevens' claim that he has held steady while the Court moved rightward. Lee Epstein has an interesting graph on the Speaking of Stevens blog.
These left-right quantifications need to be taken with a grain of salt, as I have mentioned before, but they are useful if their limitations are kept in mind. When Gallup* asks the American people if the Supreme Court is too liberal, too conservative, or about right, "about right" generally gets the plurality vote with "too liberal" usually (but not always) second and "too conservative" usually last. This indicates the Court is just a tad to the left of the American median. How is that possible, when Republican Presidents have gotten most of the appointments over the years? Justice drift.
*Update: This recent Rasmussen Poll shows 39% "too liberal," 25% "too conservative," and 27% "about right."
These left-right quantifications need to be taken with a grain of salt, as I have mentioned before, but they are useful if their limitations are kept in mind. When Gallup* asks the American people if the Supreme Court is too liberal, too conservative, or about right, "about right" generally gets the plurality vote with "too liberal" usually (but not always) second and "too conservative" usually last. This indicates the Court is just a tad to the left of the American median. How is that possible, when Republican Presidents have gotten most of the appointments over the years? Justice drift.
*Update: This recent Rasmussen Poll shows 39% "too liberal," 25% "too conservative," and 27% "about right."
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