Is the US Supreme Court a reliable backstop for an overreaching US president? Maybe, but is an overreaching (partisan) court worse?

Abstract

The Roberts Court has been called the most “___” Court in history, with many different adjectives being offered. Surprisingly, our study of voting data from Supreme Court terms 1937–2021 shows that the Roberts Court is the most “anti-president” Court in that period: It has ruled against the president at a greater rate than any other Court. Should we take this to mean that the Court will be there to protect democracy if an overreaching president tries to trample constitutional limits? Not necessarily. Additional analysis and a deep dive into the cases and reasoning reveal a more complicated picture, of a Court exhibiting historic levels of partisan and loyalty bias as well as a strong penchant for judicial supremacy.