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

Nypost · Apr 26, 2026 · 1050 words · By Mollie Hemingway

Judicial Collegiality and Court Dynamics Political Polarization in the Supreme Court Criticism of Conservative Justices vs. Liberal Justices

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What to know about Judicial Collegiality and Court Dynamics

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

Claims checked 22

Techniques found 4

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Though fiercely independent and with differing ideas about how the Court should interpret the Constitution and statutes, most justices put a lot of work into maintaining collegiality.

Common ground

In a tradition instituted by Chief Justice Melville W.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Appeal to Authority: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Judicial Collegiality and Court Dynamics story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Alito shares that view, but he is much less theoretical than other originalists on the court, such as Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas?
How does this story connect Judicial Collegiality and Court Dynamics with Political Polarization in the Supreme Court over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/opinion/supreme-court-civility-is-not-being-upheld…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 4 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Name Calling / Labeling 60% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Appeal to Authority 50% confidence

Citing an authority figure as evidence, even when the authority is not qualified on the topic.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to authority helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Cherry Picking 70% confidence

Selectively presenting evidence that supports one side while ignoring contrary evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing cherry picking helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 22 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 12

check_circle Corroborated 4

info Single Source 4

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “Alito shares that view, but he is much less theoretical than other originalists on the court, such as Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “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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Claim 3: “Finally, they agreed to get the dissent done a month after the leak.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 4: “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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Claim 5: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 6: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 8: “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.

travel_explore

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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Claim 9: “The conservative justices had to survive almost two months of threats for Dobbs to be finalized and issued.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 10: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 11: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “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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Claim 13: “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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Claim 14: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 15: “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

info

Claim 16: “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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Claim 17: “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.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 18: “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 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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Claim 19: “His Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision in 2014 held that family-owned companies can assert religious objections to federal mandates.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 20: “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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Claim 21: “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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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 22: “Justice Gorsuch asked if they could speed it up, on account of the threats, but the liberal justices demurred.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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.