Distinctive Features of Amy Coney Barrett’s
(Nearly) Five Terms on the Court
Lee Epstein, Washington University in St. Louis
Andrew D. Martin, Washington University in St. Louis
Michael Nelson, Penn State University
Click here for the report (.pdf).
On the surface, Justice Amy Coney Barrett (ACB) appears to be a typical conservative-Republican member of the Roberts Court, broadly similar to the two other Trump appointees, to her former boss Justice Scalia, and even to Chief Justice Roberts. But a closer look at the data points to seven distinctive aspects of her judging.
The shift from RBG—>ACB was even more epic than commentary suggests
ACB (mostly) isn’t Justice Scalia
ACB is playing an increasingly central role on the Court
ACB is showing signs of leftward drift
ACB is aligning more frequently with liberal majorities and less with the other Republican appointees
ACB is writing separately more often—especially in big cases
ACB often sided with the Biden administration but is the Republican appointee least likely to support Trump in Trump-related disputes
We thank Kevin Quinn, Emory University, who contributed the Martin-Quinn scores to this report