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Supreme Court · Associate Justice

Samuel Alito

Republican appointee: Appointed by George W. Bush (R)

Served 2006–present · 20 terms

Confirmed 58–42

Biography

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 31, 2005, and has served on it since January 31, 2006. After Antonin Scalia, Alito is the second Italian American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Source: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ideology over time

Alito and the 15 justices who overlapped with Alito, 2005–present

−4−20+2+42005201020152020More conservativeMore liberalThomasAlitoScaliaGorsuchKavanaughBarrettKennedyJ. RobertsKaganBreyerK. JacksonGinsburgSotomayor
  • Samuel Alito
  • 95% credible interval
  • Peer, appointed by a Democrat
  • Peer, appointed by a Republican
  • Court median
How to read this

Martin–Quinn scores place each justice on a single liberal–conservative dimension, estimated from their votes across terms, with scores allowed to shift from one term to the next. Higher is more conservative. The shaded band is the credible interval: wider when the record is thin, especially in a justice’s first terms, and narrower as votes accumulate.

Where Alito sits among all justices

Career average, every justice in the data set

−4−20+2+41.422.50

Alito’s range across terms

Served alongside Alito

15 justices

Closest career average first. Filled dot: the peer. Ring: Alito.

JusticeTogetherCareer avg
Antonin Scalia2005–2015career average 2.50 versus Alito at 2.00Neil Gorsuch2016–2024career average 1.04 versus Alito at 2.00Sandra O'Connor2005career average 1.02 versus Alito at 2.00John Roberts2005–2024career average 0.81 versus Alito at 2.00Amy Barrett2020–2024career average 0.77 versus Alito at 2.00Anthony Kennedy2005–2017career average 0.68 versus Alito at 2.00Clarence Thomas2005–2024career average 3.40 versus Alito at 2.00Brett Kavanaugh2018–2024career average 0.56 versus Alito at 2.00David Souter2005–2008career average −0.77 versus Alito at 2.00Stephen Breyer2005–2021career average −1.32 versus Alito at 2.00Elena Kagan2010–2024career average −1.74 versus Alito at 2.00Ruth Ginsburg2005–2019career average −1.76 versus Alito at 2.00John Stevens2005–2009career average −1.81 versus Alito at 2.00Ketanji Jackson2022–2024career average −2.62 versus Alito at 2.00Sonia Sotomayor2009–2024career average −3.27 versus Alito at 2.00

How Alito voted

Every argued case Alito took part in, newest first, with how Alito voted in each: with the majority, in dissent, or in an equally divided Court. A Liberal or Conservative tag is the Supreme Court Database’s coding of who prevailed in the case, not a rating of the justices.

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    Data notes

    The Decisions page’s argued cases with this justice’s vote from the Supreme Court Database. “Majority” includes a concurrence; a vote that dissented in part is coded by the side the justice took overall. Cases the justice sat out and equally divided cases are left out of the percentages. “Wrote” means authored an opinion. Source: Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.).

    Report a correction

    Scores: Martin, Andrew D. and Kevin M. Quinn. 2002. “Dynamic Ideal Point Estimation via Markov Chain Monte Carlo for the U.S. Supreme Court, 1953–1999.” Political Analysis 10:134–153, from mqscores.wustl.edu. Appointment data: Federal Judicial Center biographical directory. Biographies: Wikipedia, text abridged, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Portraits: public-domain images via Wikimedia Commons.