Law Commons^™

Birds Of A Feather: Alliances And Influences On The Lamer Court 1990-1997, Peter Mccormick

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Supreme Court does not always speak with a single voice; for many decisions, there are judges who register disagreement with the majority's legal reasoning or even with the outcome. Are there identifiable fault lines dividing a persisting "majority" and "minority?" Are there one or more "swing vote" judges who allow the minority some share of the decisions of the Court? And, given that the coalitions are shifting rather than rigid, which pairings of judges most frequently (or most seldom) hold together through these shifts? This paper examines the divided panel decisions of the first seven years of the Lamer …