Re: conservatives and liberals ...
Add to that confirmation hearings. In general (again) you will hear the more liberal senators asking the candidate what they think about a specific issue while the conservatives tend to focus on whether the candidate would apply the law, whether they approve of the law or not.
I think it was Justice Thomas who said that he doesn't need the parade of people who might be disenfranchised if the Court ruled a certain way. His take is whether a specific issue is constitutional or not. It's up to the states to change the Constitution if that's desired.
You see it in the lower courts as well. There have been rulings that referred to the defendant's own sense of right and wrong and concluded that a lesser sentence was warranted because the perpetrator did not deem his own actions to be all that objectionable. In addition, at times more liberal courts will conclude that a specific act, while considered egregious under local law, is not considered objectionable in the defendant's own culture or country of origin.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
