President Nixon (Republican) appointed Chief Justice William Rehnquist to the Supreme Court, and President Reagan (Republican) appointed Rehnquist as Chief Justice by Reagan. President Ford (Republican) appointed Justice John Paul Stevens to the Court. President Reagan (Republican) appointed Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy to the Court. President George Bush (Republican and the present president's father) appointed Justices David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Court. President Clinton (Democrat) appointed Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer to the Court.

Ideologically, however, the Court does not reflect the seven-to-two Republican-to-Democrat division of the Supreme Court. Justices Stevens and Ginsberg most consistently vote for liberal positions on issues brought before the Court, while Justices Scalia and Thomas most consistently vote for conservative position on issues before the Court. Chief Justice Rehnquist also has a strong conservative voting record in the Supreme Court, although not to the extent that is true of Justices Scalia and Thomas. The moderates in the center are Justices Souter, Breyer, O'Connor, and Kennedy. Justice Kenned

Greenhouse, L. "Justices to Hear Utah's Challenge to Procedure in 2000 Census." New York Times (23 January 2002): A14.

Examination of Specific Issues Involving Civil Liberties in the United States

Inner Workings of the Court Related to Decision-Making

Ignagni, J., Meernik, J., and King, K. L. "Statutory Construction and Congressional Response." American Politics Quarterly 26 (October 1998): 459-484.

Abortion also is a crucial issue with respect to the interactions between the three branches of the federal government in 2002. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives opposes reproductive rights for women, while the Democratic majority in the Senate supports such rights (although there are a few dissenters on each side of the aisle in each house of Congress. President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft hold strong anti-abortion positions. The divided Supreme Court consistently upholds Roe v. Wade; however, new appointees by President Bush could change this situation. For the foreseeable future, however, the Supreme Court likely is the only branch of government at the federal level in the United States that will be capable of making a firm decision on the abortion issue.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on 11 September 2001, issues related to habeas corpus, search and seizure, surveillance, and access to counsel assumed new dimensions, as the Bush Administration largely suspended these individual protections for persons suspected of having some link to terrorism or terrorists. The Supreme Court is at the center of this issue because the Court has been refining the legal position of all of these issues over the last three decades. The Rehnquist Court, based on past performance, likely will favor the position of the Bush Administration over the position of the rights of the individual in dealing with persons detained in rela