Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagen was in Detroit on Friday. Contrary to perceptions about the nine justices tending to vote along Democratic Party or Republican Party lines, she said that sort of partisan politics doesn't happen in the Supreme Court. From The Detroit News:
Kagan says politics doesn't rule on Supreme Court
Ann Arbor — The Supreme Court's newest justice said Friday she isn't fazed by the political controversy and protests surrounding high-profile cases such as this summer's decision on the Affordable Care Act.
That is, no doubt, an accurate statement. Rather, the justices tend to vote along their liberal or conservative philosophical thinking. It just so happens that liberal judges tend to have been nominated and confirmed under Democratic Party administrations while conservative judges tend to have been nominated and confirmed under Republican Party administrations... so their thinking aligns with the political party that brought them to the Supreme Court.In fact, Elena Kagan said, it doesn't affect any of her colleagues in their decisions. [full article here]
Affordable Care Act where the liberal [Democratic Party judges] voted to uphold the constitutionality of the individual mandate [tax] while the conservative [Republican Party judges] voted to strike down the mandate on Constitutional grounds. Chief Justice Roberts was swing vote and he broke away from the party alignment generality.
It would be interesting to review Justice Kagen's positions when there were split votes. Some votes are unanimous indicating a clear legal answer. It's the split votes that demonstrate the alignment with party or philosophy.