Shawn Fleetwood writes for the Federalist about a new analysis of the nation’s highest court.
America’s propaganda media have used a litany of dishonest smears to try and undermine the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. And if you weren’t already convinced that these attacks are bogus, a newly released study just sent one of them through the paper shredder.
The analysis published Wednesday by the Pew Research Center examined how often the high court overturns its past decisions. These rulings carry significant weight throughout the American legal system and establish guidance for lower courts on how to handle specific issues as they come before the judiciary.
With its conservative majority, the current Supreme Court has overturned several long-standing precedents in recent years that have often produced outcomes in accordance with the Constitution and existing law. The most notable example of this was the court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning the precedent first established in Roe v. Wade (1973) that invented a so-called “constitutional right” to abortion.
Antithetical to their policy agenda, media content creators and their leftist allies have used these originalist decisions to try and foment controversy around the court where there is none. More specifically, they’ve sought to deceive Americans into believing that the conservative justices are overturning precedent at an alarming rate, and in a way that threatens the Constitution and rule of law. …
… So, are the media right? Is the Supreme Court defying history and throwing precedent into the wind without a second thought? According to Pew, the answer is a resounding “no.”
Using data from the Library of Congress and Pennsylvania State University’s Supreme Court Database, the study found that from the time John Roberts was appointed as chief justice in 2005 to the high court’s recent 2024-2025 term, “only 21 of 1,471 rulings … overturned one or more earlier decisions.” For all you math wizards out there, that’s 1.4 percent.
