Judges live with a case while they’re working on an opinion. For a time, it can be among the most important things in their lives. They’ll read the briefs and record, debate precedents, search cases, worry over language, and care intensely about getting it right. But what does it mean to “get it right”?
For some, it means reaching a socially desirable result. Did the judge promote social justice? For others, it means following the law’s words, even when the result is hard. Did the judge give the statute a fair reading? Did the judge hew to the text? In the popular imagination, liberal judges tend to fall into the first camp and conservative judges into the second. The generalization is crude, but familiar enough to invite assumptions.
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