Stephen G. Breyer
In October Term 2014, a single noisy term, Breyer voted with the majority in 86% of divided cases and 90% of all cases. The comparison is the other justices on that bench.
Ideology over time
Martin-Quinn score by term against the Court median. Negative is liberal. Scores are relative to the docket. Intervals are not in this file. A single term is noisy.
Table
| series | term | martin_quinn |
|---|---|---|
| Breyer | 1994 | -0.506 |
| Breyer | 1995 | -0.741 |
| Breyer | 1996 | -0.991 |
| Breyer | 1997 | -1.067 |
| Breyer | 1998 | -1.058 |
| Breyer | 1999 | -1.049 |
| Breyer | 2000 | -1.412 |
| Breyer | 2001 | -1.426 |
| Breyer | 2002 | -1.398 |
| Breyer | 2003 | -1.312 |
| Breyer | 2004 | -1.198 |
| Breyer | 2005 | -1.419 |
| Breyer | 2006 | -1.509 |
| Breyer | 2007 | -1.399 |
| Breyer | 2008 | -1.176 |
| Breyer | 2009 | -1.271 |
| Breyer | 2010 | -1.318 |
| Breyer | 2011 | -1.272 |
| Breyer | 2012 | -1.213 |
| Breyer | 2013 | -1.203 |
| Breyer | 2014 | -1.200 |
| Breyer | 2017 | -1.675 |
| Court median | 1994 | 0.663 |
| Court median | 1995 | 0.573 |
| Court median | 1996 | 0.692 |
| Court median | 1997 | 0.636 |
| Court median | 1998 | 0.737 |
| Court median | 1999 | 0.724 |
| Court median | 2000 | 0.480 |
| Court median | 2001 | 0.302 |
| Court median | 2002 | 0.220 |
| Court median | 2003 | 0.169 |
| Court median | 2004 | 0.076 |
| Court median | 2005 | 0.189 |
| Court median | 2006 | 0.413 |
| Court median | 2007 | 0.317 |
| Court median | 2008 | 0.565 |
| Court median | 2009 | 0.572 |
| Court median | 2010 | 0.679 |
| Court median | 2011 | 0.436 |
| Court median | 2012 | -0.373 |
| Court median | 2013 | 0.465 |
| Court median | 2014 | 0.470 |
| Court median | 2017 | -0.590 |
Where Breyer came down, by issue
Share of votes coded liberal. The first-run issue table suppresses cells under 25 votes and does not publish a separate Court rate for this justice. Direction before 1946 is excluded.
Table
| issue | justice_liberal | court_liberal | n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Taxation | 0.771 | 1704 | |
| Due Process | 0.730 | 1704 | |
| Unions | 0.730 | 1704 | |
| Federalism | 0.660 | 1704 | |
| Civil Rights | 0.629 | 1704 | |
| Criminal Procedure | 0.544 | 1704 | |
| First Amendment | 0.515 | 1704 | |
| Economic Activity | 0.505 | 1704 | |
| Judicial Power | 0.494 | 1704 |
At oral argument stage 3
Words per argument, questions to each side, interruptions given and received, and whether the side questioned more went on to lose. Formats are never pooled.
Source: Oyez speaker turns
Writing style stage 2
Words per opinion, reading grade, citations per thousand words, and the share of case versus statutory citations.
Source: CourtListener opinion text
Reasoning profile stage 6
Which reasoning techniques appear, against the Court average over the same terms. Validation accuracy prints beside the chart.
Source: Taxonomy classifier over opinion text
Before the Court stage 8
Pre-appointment opinions, reversal record and panel agreement.
Source: CourtListener, labeled by coverage