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The collegiality of the Supreme Court is under attack — and it’s dangerous

Nypost · · 1050 words · By Mollie Hemingway
Political Polarization in the Supreme Court Judicial Collegiality and Court Dynamics Criticism of Conservative Justices vs. Liberal Justices
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/opinion/supreme-court-civility-is-not-being-upheld…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Name Calling / Labeling 60% confidence
Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.
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Appeal to Authority 50% confidence
Citing an authority figure as evidence, even when the authority is not qualified on the topic.
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Cherry Picking 70% confidence
Selectively presenting evidence that supports one side while ignoring contrary evidence.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

22 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 12
info Single Source 4
check_circle Corroborated 4
help Insufficient Evidence 2
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“When Justice Samuel Alito arrived at the Supreme Court in 2006, Justice Antonin Scalia jokingly told him he would spend his first five years on the Court wondering how he got there and the rest of the time wondering how everybody else got there.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results mention both Justice Alito's arrival date and an interaction between Alito and Scalia, but none of the provided snippets contain the specific joke attributed to Scalia regarding Alito's first five years. The evidence confirms Alito's nomination and presence on the Court, but not the specific anecdote.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Antonin Gregory Scalia (March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnicity, and religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 116 people who have been appointed and confirmed …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Supreme_Co…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ə-LEE-toh; born April 1, 1950) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by Pres…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Alito
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“In a tradition instituted by Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller in the late 19th century, the justices greet each other and shake hands before meeting in conference or going out onto the bench.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results explicitly state that the tradition of justices greeting each other and shaking hands before meetings or going out onto the bench was instituted by Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller in the late 19th century.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Fuller Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1888 to 1910, when Melville Fuller served as the eighth Chief Justice of the United States. Fuller succeeded Morrison R. Waite as…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuller_Court
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Fuller Park is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Located on the city's South Side, it is 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Loop. It is named for a small park also known as F…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuller_Park,_Chicago
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Melville Weston Fuller (February 11, 1833 – July 4, 1910) was an American politician, attorney, and jurist who served as the eighth chief justice of the United States from 1888 until his death in 1910…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_Fuller
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Earlier this month, Justice Sonia Sotomayor took an extraordinarily personal shot at Justice Brett Kavanaugh, accusing him of being a man who “probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.””
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results do not contain any information regarding Justice Sotomayor making the specific accusation against Justice Kavanaugh about working by the hour. The evidence provided for this claim is insufficient to verify the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associate_Justice_of_the_Supre…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnicity, and religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 116 people who have been appointed and confirmed …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Supreme_Co…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Constitution of the United States does not require that any federal judges have any particular educational or career background, but the work of the Court involves complex questions of law – rangi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_attended_b…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“After Justice Elena Kagan was on the losing end of a few key decisions in recent years, she toured the country impugning the integrity of the Court.”
SINGLE SOURCE
One web search result makes this exact claim. While the evidence confirms Kagan's service and involvement in key decisions, no other independent sources corroborate the claim that she 'toured the country impugning the integrity of the Court' following losing decisions.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On May 10, 2010, President Barack Obama announced his selection of Elena Kagan for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan's n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Kagan_Supreme_Court_nomi…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_St…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elena Kagan ( KAY-guhn; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Kagan
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Alito authored a nearly 100-page draft of the Court’s opinion overturning the controversial Roe v. Wade decision by early February.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results report that Justice Alito authored a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, and one source specifies the timeframe around early February, corroborating the core elements of the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the court held that the United States Constitution does not confer…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women's_Healt…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right of pregnant women to choose …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ə-LEE-toh; born April 1, 1950) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by Pres…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Alito
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Dissenting justices were surprised at how thorough it was, but they had five months to work on their dissent by the time the draft opinion was leaked to Politico.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Two web search results mention the leak of Alito's draft opinion and the dissent, but only one source specifies the 'five months' timeframe for the dissenters' work, making it a single-source confirmation for the specific duration.
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web search NEUTRAL — the draft, Alito responded to the dissenting opinion, writing, "The dissent is very candid that it cannot show that a constitutional right to abortion has any foundation, let alone a 'deeply rooted' o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women's_Healt…
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web search NEUTRAL — Dissenting justices were surprised at how thorough it was, but they had five months to work on their dissent by the time the draft opinion was leaked to Politico. Immediately, the justices who had sig…
https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/opinion/supreme-court-civility…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jesse reports from the United States Supreme Court in the wake of Politico releasing a draft decision authored by Justice Alito which reverses Roe v Wade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIQQboYCdgc
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“Immediately, the justices who had signed onto Dobbs faced threats to their lives.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results report that justices who signed onto the Dobbs decision faced threats to their lives immediately after the leak.
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web search NEUTRAL — The court's decision overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), devolving to state governments the authority to regulate any aspect of abortion that federal law does not…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women's_Healt…
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web search NEUTRAL — Immediately, the justices who had signed onto Dobbs faced threats to their lives.Justice Gorsuch asked if they could speed it up, on account of the threats, but the liberal justices demurred. Finally,…
https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/opinion/supreme-court-civility…
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web search NEUTRAL — Some of these justices live with their young children. They immediately had to be put under security. They were wearing bulletproof vests. They were dealing with things that nobody should ever have to…
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/04/20/mollie_he…
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“The Alito family had to be moved to a secure location away from braying mobs.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results report that Justice Alito and his family were moved to a secure, undisclosed location for safety.
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web search NEUTRAL — Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush on October 3…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Alito
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web search NEUTRAL — Justice Alito and his family have been moved to an undisclosed location.Ginsburg believed the right was on better legal standing if it was guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Cla…
https://thepostmillennial.com/justice-alito-and-family-moved…
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web search NEUTRAL — For the sake of safety, Alito has reportedly been moved to a location that will not be revealed, according to Breitbart. Last week, Alito canceled an appearance at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal…
https://dailyangle.com/articles/supreme-court-justice-alito-…
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“Left-wing activists posted the home addresses of the conservative justices.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results or Wikipedia entries regarding left-wing activists posting the home addresses of conservative justices.
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“One man was arrested outside of Justice Kavanaugh’s home with a gun, and said he’d wanted to kill three justices.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results or Wikipedia entries regarding an arrest outside Justice Kavanaugh's home involving a gun and threats against three justices.
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“Justice Gorsuch asked if they could speed it up, on account of the threats, but the liberal justices demurred.”
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“Finally, they agreed to get the dissent done a month after the leak.”
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“But they included an unnecessary mention of a case that wasn’t coming out until the end of the term, stalling its release even further.”
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“The conservative justices had to survive almost two months of threats for Dobbs to be finalized and issued.”
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“He left no stone unturned in his opinion that explaining a right to abortion was not hidden in the Constitution, was not deeply rooted in the country’s history, and should be decided by the people through democratic means.”
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“In addition to Dobbs, he wrote the plurality opinion in McDonald v. Chicago, a 2010 case that held that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms applies to state and local governments.”
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“His Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision in 2014 held that family-owned companies can assert religious objections to federal mandates.”
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“The 2018 Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees held that public sector unions may not force non-members to pay fees, which subsidize political speech with which they disagree.”
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“Most justices on the Court are originalists, who believe the meaning of the US Constitution is fixed at the time each provision was ratified and that judges should interpret it according to its original public meaning.”
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“Alito shares that view, but he is much less theoretical than other originalists on the court, such as Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.”
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“The extensive travel and celebrity hobnobbing of retired Justice Stephen Breyer, deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson have received no similar scrutiny.”
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“The Times absurdly claimed the colonial-era flag, which had flown for decades over San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza, was a coded message for Jan. 6 insurrectionists.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.