It is popularly accepted that Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito compose the Court's conservative wing. Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer are generally thought of as the Court's liberal wing.[88] Justice Anthony Kennedy, generally considered a conservative who "occasionally vote[s] with the liberals",[89] is most likely to be the swing vote that determines the outcome of close cases.[90] Recent appointee Justice Sotomayor has voted only in cases that were decided with at least seven votes, with two exceptions.[91] Her first opinion for the Court was on a procedural issue;[92] her second was on criminal appellate procedure;[93] her third was on statutory interpretation of the Bankruptcy Code.[94]
Justice Sotomayor has joined dissents in two cases: South Carolina v. North Carolina,[95], and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.[96] In the former, she joined Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas and Ginsburg in an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, written by the Chief Justice. In Citizens United, she joined part of the opinion for the Court (written by Justice Kennedy; the part joined by Justice Sotomayor was also joined all other justices except Justice Thomas), and dissented in part, joining the dissent written by Justice John Paul Stevens (which was also joined by Justices Ginsburg and Breyer). Other than these two cases, Justice Sotomayor has not joined any opinion that was not joined by at least six other justices, nor has she written any concurrences or dissents as of February 23, 2010 (2010 -02-23)
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