Quote:
One effect of the breakdown is that the law is now almost always spoken of popularly in terms of outcomes that are indistinguishable from political ends. Whether a judicial nominee opposes a cause like abortion or affirmative action is now considered a legal question. Studies asses judges in terms of the causes they back or oppose, and find, for example, that appointees of the Reagan and [George H. W.] Bush administrations are far more likely than appointees of the Carter Administration to oppose the claims of criminal defendants, of environmentalists, or of civil-rights advocates.
[
New Yorker]