Since 1869, nearly two centuries ago, nine justices make up the U.S. Supreme Court. When a seat becomes vacant, the president nominates a candidate, who then must be confirmed by a majority in the senate. With the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020, the majority of the court leans conservative. Court decisions tend to reflect the political philosophies of each justice, but this isn't true 100% of the time. Earlier that year, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that President Trump's termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2017 was unlawful, and in effect, restored the program. Under DACA, 700,000 immigrants who came to the country as children were given temporary legal status to live, go to school, and work in the United States without fear of deportation. The majority opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts made it clear that he believed it was not the Supreme Court's role to decide whether DACA was a good policy. Rather the decision centered on addressing the Administration's failure to follow the procedural requirement to end a policy with a reasoned explanation.
If the Supreme Court heard the case in 2023, do you think the ruling would be the same? In your response, you may want to consider the following:
1. The political ideologies of the justices at the time the case was heard 2. The current ideological makeup of the Supreme Court 3. Judicial activism versus judicial restraint ​