Episode 20

20 - What You Might Not Know about the Supreme Court

Everyone knows that the Supreme Court is divided between 6 "conservative" justices and 3 "liberal" justices - and that's all you really need to know about the decisions made by the Court, right? "Not so fast," says Dr. Dean Jens and Sarah Isgur in their recent article for politico. Jens and Isgur note that roughly 50% of the Court's decisions in its 2022-2023 term were unanimous. Less than 10% of the divided opinions had the 6-3 conservative/liberal division. In addition, 90% of those cases had at least one liberal justice in the majority.

In this episode, Emily and James visit with Dr. Jens and Dr. Keith Eakins, a specialist in judicial processes and Constitutional law, regarding some interesting and unexpected overlaps between justices, the role ideology plays in judicial decision-making, and whether we should think of the camps within the Supreme Court justices as 3-3-3 court rather than 6-3.

Along the way, James tries to explain what is meant by "standing" in the judicial context, Emily and James give a preview of the OK primaries, and they introduce a new segment called "I have questions."

To read the Politico article by Dr. Dean Jens and Sarah Isgur, go here: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/02/supreme-court-justice-math-00152188

To find out more about Dr. Dean Jens, click here: https://business.ucf.edu/person/dean-jens/

To find out more about Dr. Keith Eakins, click here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-rollin-eakins-jd-phd-02a23713/

Click here to learn more about Dr. Emily Stacey: https://www.rose.edu/staff/social-sciences-department/stacey-emily/

Click here to learn more about Professor James Davenport: https://www.rose.edu/staff/social-sciences-department/davenport-james/

Not My Generation is recorded and produced by Possibilities, Inc. You can learn more about Possibilities, Inc. here: https://www.possibilitiesinc.org/

You can follow Not My Generation on X (Twitter) at @NMGpodcast and on Facebook at Not My Generation Podcast. You can also email us at NotMyGeneration@raider.rose.edu.

The views expressed here are solely the views of the hosts and their guests and do not represent the views of Rose State College, its administration, faculty, or students.

Mentioned in this episode:

Not My Generation Promo Snippet

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Not My Generation
Not My Generation

Listen for free

About your hosts

Profile picture for Dr. Emily Stacey

Dr. Emily Stacey

Emily Stacey is a Political Science professor and Program Coordinator for Political Science at Rose State College. Dr. Stacey has the privilege of coordinating events, including the Great Debate panel series, Liberal Arts and Sciences colloquia, and the Political Science book club. Dr. Stacey was honored as a DaVinci Institute Fellow in 2023, an award given for innovative teaching in higher education. She successfully completed her dissertation defense in November 2016, and formally graduated with her doctorate in July 2017 from Swansea University (Wales, UK). Emily’s dissertation research focuses on the necessity of bureaucratization in contemporary social movements, namely those using digital technologies to mobilize and sustain dissent. She has participated in the Digital Methods Initiative at the University of Amsterdam (2013) and Oxford University’s Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program (2014).



Emily has published multiple works thus far, Combatting Internet-Enabled Terrorism (2017), which focuses on the use of digital technologies and the internet by terror organizations, with emphasis on the Islamic State. Nationalism, Social Movements, and Activism in Contemporary Society was published in 2018, and analyzes the rising tide of nationalist politics around the world, with emphasis on U.S. politics (the rise of the Tea Party, election of Donald Trump and juxtaposing that against the Black Lives Matter movement). Emily’s most recent work (2023) focuses on deglobalization and the shifting world order. You can follow Emily on Twitter at: @politikphd.
Profile picture for James Davenport

James Davenport

James Davenport is the Associate Dean for Social Sciences and a professor of political science at Rose State College. He is a two-time recipient of the Oklahoma Political Science Association's (OPSA) "Teacher of the Year" award and a recipient of OPSA's "Excellence in Public Service" award. He has also earned the Rose State College "Excellence in Teaching" award. He earned the "Excellence in Public Service" Award from the OPSA in 2023.
James brings practical experience in politics to his academic training as a political scientist. He has worked for a member of Congress, a county commissioner, a public opinion research firm, and owned a public relations and campaign consulting firm. In addition, he has also be the host of a radio talk show.
In 2023, James founded the Center for Civic Engagement, which fosters positive conversations on challenging issues and builds bridges of communication between the academic community, policy makers, and the general public.
Profile picture for Podcast Platform

Podcast Platform