Here is your crash course in current justices five through eight:
5. Stephen Breyer
Pragmatic, poised and downright poisonous to certain attorneys, the brilliance of Stephen Breyer truly is something at which one should marvel. His wit is so effortless it’s maddening to behold, and his questions are eye-opening and case-shutting. His style is somewhat akin to Kennedy’s and Thomas’s in certain senses. He bides his time patiently much like Kennedy. But if Kennedy is comparable to a pacing elephant, deliberate, thoughtful and gargantuan in terms of judicial genius, Breyer is comparable to a hungry lion prepared to pounce. Like Thomas, he seems distant and disinterested during most of the proceedings. He even sometimes looks bored, like he would prefer to be anywhere else in the world than the courtroom. Once he opens his mouth, however, it is evident that his mind has not left that courtroom at all. He can derail complete arguments with a single sentence, and he is not afraid to do just that. While this may paint him in stark contrast to some of his colleagues, Breyer is by no means a villain. He’s a legal hero. It is his job to topple arguments. While RBG may be the figurehead of the liberal camp, there is no doubt that Breyer is heir apparent to her role and that he is competent enough to inherit that mantle when the time comes.
Political leanings: Liberal, perhaps the most consistently of anyone on the bench currently.
Best opinion: Bush v. Gore. Breyer at the time was the junior-most justice, but he did not let that keep him from filing his own separate dissent. He was joined by John Paul Stevens, and partially by Ginsburg and David Souter.
6. Samuel Alito Jr.
George W. Bush’s only confirmed Associate Justice appointment, Justice Alito lives up to the expectations and legacy of such a conservative president swimmingly. Alito was confirmed just four months after Roberts took the role of Chief Justice, but the new justice wasted absolutely no time carving out a decidedly conservative niche for himself, ensuring that he would not get lost in the shuffle. Coming in so soon after the Rehnquist era, it would have been easy for Alito to have been overlooked next to his conservative colleagues. He was not as outrageous or outright as Justice Scalia, nor was he as passive and pensive as Justice Thomas. Alito is a man and legal mind all his own. He sometimes acts like Thomas and Breyer in the sense that his boredom is occasionally evident. Out of all the current justices, Alito is arguably the one that seems most like just a guy. He comes across as relatively normal and accessible, if you can look past the stately robe. Do not let his easygoing demeanor fool you, though. He is as competent and capable as he is consistently conservative.
Political leanings: Conservative.
Best opinion: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. Scalia and Thomas both filed their own dissents as well, but this was one of the first times Alito filed an opinion for a non-unanimous decision, and his entire ideology was laid out in this opinion.
7. Sonia Sotomayor
The first justice of Hispanic descent, Sotomayor’s childhood was also marked with profound tragedy. Like Ginsburg, rather than letting her struggles impede on her potential success, Sotomayor let them become the fuel that ultimately led to her placement on the Highest Court in the Land. As only the third woman to ever sit behind the bench, Sotomayor had two distinct paths which she could follow: the O’Connor method, which included mostly conservative opinions, but with a potential to swing leftward on some key issues, or the Ginsburg way, liberal, but with an appreciation and understanding of her right-minded colleagues. But Justice Sotomayor has never been one to follow the path (or paths) laid out for her. She instead has made an entirely unique mark on the bench. She is consistently liberal in her decisions, but her style is very different from Ginsburg’s. While Ginsburg is mindful and cautious about legislating from the bench, Sotomayor is comfortable making sweeping federal decisions. She is much more proactive than her contemporaries about using the bench to accomplish certain things. It is important to note that Sotomayor was the first justice appointment by Barack Obama, and it is reasonable to assume she will be on the bench for much longer than most of her senior justices. She has already made her own mark, but she still has plenty of time to make her judicial legacy.
Political leanings: Liberal.
Best opinion: This is cheating, but My Beloved World. Do yourself a favor and read it. No sitting justice has ever written such a detailed memoir of their early childhood. Carr v. United States is pretty good, too.
8. Elena Kagan
The first female Solicitor General, Elena Kagan’s path to the Supreme Court was unlike any previous justice’s. In 2010, she took over the seat previously occupied by John Paul Stevens and since she has been striving to be as groundbreaking as he was in his legal career. So far, she has been successful in that venture. Kagan often operates on the same wavelength as Sotomayor. To watch them play off of each other during oral arguments is truly something special. Kagan typically poses a plethora of questions during cases. She is not at all content to sit back and just listen. She always plays a proactive and important role in oral arguments. Her questions are always compelling and steer the argument in the direction she wants it to go in. She approaches oral arguments like a chess match, guiding her pieces strategically to her desired end. The most junior justice of the current Supreme Court, Kagan still has ample time to develop and deepen her mark on jurisprudence.
Political leanings: Liberal.
Best opinion: Henderson v. United States. Kagan continues the time honored tradition of the newest justice penning the opinion of the unanimous Court.
