Gorsuch's Record Was More 'Liberal' Than Kennedy's This Term: New at Reason

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Here's a curious fact about the U.S. Supreme Court term that concluded in June: Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch racked up a more "liberal" voting record than Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Kennedy did not join the Court's liberal bloc in a single 5–4 decision in the entire 2017–2018 sitting. That's unusual. In previous terms, Kennedy's fifth vote decided such contentious issues as gay marriage and abortion.

Gorsuch, on the other hand, did side with the liberal bloc in Sessions v. Dimaya, which struck down a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act dealing with the power of the federal government to deport any alien, including a lawful permanent resident, convicted of an "aggravated felony." Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor. Gorsuch, who concurred in part and joined in the judgment, provided the tie-breaking fifth vote, writes Reason's Damon Root.

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