06-25-2015, 01:30 PM
(06-25-2015, 01:02 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: 50% is pretty good for Kennedy being the moderate.
So if we do a +/- with Kennedy as 0
Kagan -20.4
Sotomayor -19.9
Ginsberg -18.9
Breyer -8.9
Kennedy 0
Roberts +5.4
Scalia +5.4
Thomas +9.5
Alito +10.3
So the argument definitely can be made that the liberal judges are far more liberal than the conservative judges are conservatives. Someone please correct me if I read this wrong.
I agree with you assessment. Just to prove that numbers like this can be manipulated to make any point you'd like, I decided to do the same thing based upon the number midway between the two furthest points and not the median that is Kennedy. The number is 55.05%, in case anyone is interested.
Kagan -15.35
Sotomayor -14.85
Ginsberg -13.85
Breyer -3.85
Kennedy +5.05
Roberts +10.45
Scalia +10.45
Thomas +14.55
Alito +15.35
Now we can use the mean, because I'm bored and feel like doing these crazy things. The mean is 53.94
Kagan -14.24
Sotomayor -13.74
Ginsberg -12.74
Breyer -2.74
Kennedy +3.94
Roberts +9.34
Scalia +9.34
Thomas +13.44
Alito +14.24
Of course, using those two methods throws Kennedy on the conservative side, which he is very much a moderate justice which is why most see him as the swing on the more controversial issues.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
