Trend on Supreme Court Justice political stances over time

An analysis shows Supreme Court Justices tend to get more liberal over time- especially Republican ones

Which is pretty interesting- Democratic ones are more likely to change relatively little, while Republican ones are more likely to show a shift. And it's somewhat up and down, not constant, but those are the trends.

Scalia, to mention one of the most famous, started somewhat conservative, became much more conservative in the 90s, and now is back where he started.

Thomas started conservative, got more so, got a little less, and leveled out at more conservative than he started.

Kennedy, has gone back and forth but trended more liberal.

Roberts has been on a gradual curve in that direction since he started.

Alito got more conservative, but looks to have peaked.

In order to avoid the wrath of Greenhouse and the Times, the theory goes, justices may not toe as hard a conservative line as they otherwise would have. “It seems that the primary objective of the Times’s legal reporters is to put activist heat on recently appointed Supreme Court justices,” federal judge Laurence Silberman said in a 1992 speech popularizing the theory. The more time the justices spend under this “pressure,” the more they might capitulate to it. There have been but a few references to a “Liptak Effect” — Adam Liptak took over for Greenhouse in 2008 — but it’s admittedly not as catchy a phrase.

Originally posted by psmith81992
This makes sense. It's not so much a change in ideology but the fear or backlash.

Or fear of backlash prompting a change in ideology.

That said, there is some research that suggests getting more liberal with age is pretty normal.

Possibly it's a matter that as younger generations tend to be more liberal, and like it notes SCJs have a lot of exposure to people of all stripes, this rubs off on them and pulls them in that direction to varying degrees, which the article also notes:

"The Experience. “Justices develop a wider range of experiences as they age, including more exposure to gay and lesbian clerks, female clerks, young women facing family and career dynamics (their daughters perhaps), and single mothers,” Sen wrote. This may shift their ideology leftward, especially on social issues."

Or it also speculates on the possibility that Justices tend to converge around a specific level over time, and that convergence is simply more notable when you start with a far-right candidate. The only current Justice to have trended more conservative in the last year is the Democrat-appointed Breyer, after all.

There's a few possibilities, and really no way of objectively telling.