Yup, that'll be fun. How 'bout I bookmark this thread and after every ten rulings I'll post the alignment summary for each case and the affinity statistics for justices Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas. That way everything will also be aboveboard and we can quickly resolve any dispute about classification for a given ruling. In the past couple terms the Court has heard 80 cases so I'm sure it'll be about that many this next term (unless something very dramatic happens).
We probably won't get much sense of how it's going until we get to about 30 rulings though. The earliest decisions of a term will lean heavily toward unanimous and per curiam rulings. Oh, and we should formally agree to exclude any case where any one of the three justices doesn't take part.
I'll be sure to ping our bookie along the way! ;^)
Sounds good. Bookmarked.
And I'll be sure to ping you guys to the July 2006 FReepathon (assuming that we still need FReepathons then) for payment. The term ends in late-June, so as long as Roberts makes it onto the Court by October, he'll be there for the full term. Between June and October, all they do is take "emergency" cases (like last-minute death-row appeals that generally don't produce full-blown opinions).
Anyhow, here goes:
IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez
STEVENS, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
United States v. Olson
BREYER, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Schaffer v. Weast
O’CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEVENS, SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, and THOMAS, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a concurring opinion. GINSBURG, J., and BREYER, J., filed dissenting opinions. ROBERTS, C. J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Lincoln Property Co. v. Roche
GINSBURG, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
THOMAS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and STEVENS, O’CONNOR, SCALIA, SOUTER, and BREYER, JJ., joined. GINSBURG, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which KENNEDY, J., joined.
Martin v. Franklin Capital Corp.
ROBERTS, C. J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Lockhart v. United States
O’CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. SCALIA, J., filed a concurring opinion.
United States v. Georgia
SCALIA, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. STEVENS, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which GINSBURG, J., joined.
Volvo Trucks North America, Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc.
GINSBURG, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and O’CONNOR, SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, and BREYER, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
Evans v. Chavis
BREYER, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and O’CONNOR, SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, THOMAS, and GINSBURG, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment.
Brown v. Sanders
SCALIA, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and O’CONNOR, KENNEDY, and THOMAS, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SOUTER, J., joined. BREYER, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which GINSBURG, J., joined.
Gonzales v. Oregon
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEVENS, O’CONNOR, SOUTER, GINSBURG, and BREYER, JJ., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS, J., joined.THOMAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion.
Wachovia Bank, N. A. v. Schmidt
GINSBURG, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined, except THOMAS, J., who took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New Eng.
O’CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Rice v. Collins
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. BREYER, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which SOUTER, J., joined.
Will v. Hallock
SOUTER, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Of these 16 signed rulings, two are excluded: Schaffer v. Weast in which Roberts did not participate and Wachovia Bank, N. A. v. Schmidt in which Thomas did not participate.
Of the remaining 14 rulings, Roberts and Scalia were in agreement 100% of the time.
In Volvo Trucks North America, Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc., Roberts joined the majority ruling by Ginsburg while Thomas joined the dissent by Stevens. This puts Roberts and Thomas in 92.86% agreement.
Roberts/Scalia: 100%
Roberts/Thomas: 92.86%
After 16 rulings.
Next analysis will post after 20 rulings, to get us back on schedule!