My new essay for The Hill shows that the Supreme Court’s conservative justices have no regard for the actual facts of the cases before them. Here is the gist:
Rejecting King Solomon’s wisdom, the Supreme Court bows to ideology
by Steven Lubet, opinion contributor – 09/15/25
There is a profound failing in the approach to law of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority. They do not much care about the facts of the cases before them, choosing instead to base their decisions on pure ideology.
The predictable results include the endorsement of religious coercion in public schools and ethnic profiling by federal agents.
[Gorsuch and Kavanaugh] have glossed over, distorted and mischaracterized the facts found by trial judges, to justify their preferred outcomes.
No system of justice can survive without respect for accurate fact-finding. In today’s America, it is the job of trial courts.
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh had full access to the factual records in the Kennedy [school prayer] and Vasquez Perdomo [ICE seizures] cases, developed at length by trial judges, which they did not let get in the way of their favored results.
It does not take Solomonic wisdom to realize that something very wrong is happening at the Supreme Court.
You can read the full piece, with examples of recent factual misrepresentations, at The Hill.
Posted by Steve Lubet on September 16, 2025 at 03:50 AM