Pros And Cons Of Justice Ginsburg

Justice Ginsburg might be described as Thomas’ polar opposite. Ginsburg voted with the minority liberal bloc in favor of the Federal Election Commission in Citizens United (558 U.S. 310, 316). In every recent case in which the issue was free speech in campaign spending, Ginsburg has voted in favor of stricter restrictions (Washington University Law). She has voted in favor of the Federal Election Commission in every recent case of this issue area, indicating a preference for government restriction of some political speech. She helped to set the precedent in McConnell that Citizens United overturned. Her Martin-Quinn scores have increased in their liberalism since Citizens United from -2.057 to -2.618 (Martin and Quinn 2002). This indicates that she is likely to vote in favor of overturning the precedent in Citizens United. Justice Breyer voted with Ginsburg in the minority in the case (558 U.S. 310, 316). He seems to be less strict than Ginsburg when it comes to free speech in campaign spending issues, as evidenced by his majority opinion in

310, 316). However, since she joined the Court in the year before Citizens United, Sotomayor had become increasingly more liberal, with Martin-Quinn scores escalating from -1.555 to -2.645, the most liberal on the Court in 2016 (Martin and Quinn 2002). This indicates that she is exceptionally likely to continue voting with the liberal bloc. Sotomayor has ruled in three cases in addition to Citizens United that have dealt with the issues of campaign styling and free speech, each of which she voted in favor of more government restriction of free speech in campaign spending (Washington University Law). Based on her ideological preferences and voting in other cases, it is probable that Sotomayor will continue voting in opposition to the Citizens United