(no subject)
You can sometimes get an idea of how contentious a SCOTUS decision was by checking the length of the opinion listing. From Citizens United v FEC:
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA and ALITO, JJ., joined, in which THOMAS, J., joined as to all but Part IV, and in which STEVENS, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined as to Part IV. ROBERTS, C. J., filed a concurring opinion, in which ALITO, J., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which ALITO, J., joined, and in which THOMAS, J., joined in part. STEVENS, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.
183 pages, including 7-page syllabus. 176 pages spent on opinions. The Court's opinion clocks in at 56 pages. More than twice that amount of paper-- 120 pages-- is spent concurring and dissenting-- part by labored part-- with Kennedy's majority opinion. The whole thing clocks in at 2.6 megabytes.
I dunno-- think a few of these folks might have ruffled feathers?
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA and ALITO, JJ., joined, in which THOMAS, J., joined as to all but Part IV, and in which STEVENS, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined as to Part IV. ROBERTS, C. J., filed a concurring opinion, in which ALITO, J., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which ALITO, J., joined, and in which THOMAS, J., joined in part. STEVENS, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.
183 pages, including 7-page syllabus. 176 pages spent on opinions. The Court's opinion clocks in at 56 pages. More than twice that amount of paper-- 120 pages-- is spent concurring and dissenting-- part by labored part-- with Kennedy's majority opinion. The whole thing clocks in at 2.6 megabytes.
I dunno-- think a few of these folks might have ruffled feathers?