POLS 4720 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Samuel Alito, Swing Vote
5 May 2018
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Since the Cambridge study revealed high similarities between Justices Roberts and Alito, it is
worth examining why Justice Alito’s vote for confirmation was so much closer than Justice
Roberts, appointed just a few months prior to Justice Alito. The justice that an appointee is
following is believed to have an impact on the Senate’s confirmation vote. According to the
Segal-Cover score, which provides a 0 to 1 rating with 0 being the most conservative, Justice
Alito and Justice Roberts both had a score of 0.100. However, Justice Roberts was appointed
following a Chief Justice of a Segal-Cover rating of 0.045, while Justice Alito was replacing
Justice O’Connor’s place as a swing voter with a rating of 0.415 (Moore).This evidence shows
that the close confirmation vote is influenced by political ideology, but it is not the sole factor of
confirmation. The source of the difference in confirmation votes is probably not influential on
the Fernandez v. California case.
It is well-established that, on Fourth Amendment cases, Justice Alito votes with a
conservative ideology, which means it is important to figure out which side the conservative
justices will take in the Fernandez v. California case. Because conservatives tend to expand
police power, in a Fourth Amendment case we can expect the right-leaning votes to go to the
side of the government. This leads to the conclusion that, based solely on ideology, conservative
Justice Alito will vote on the side of California. His opinion will be based on the belief that the
police should not be constricted from ease of processes by the objection from an individual that
is no longer on the premises. It is for police to carry out their duties if the objection of an absent
co-tenant must be taken into consideration rather than allowing police to swiftly execute an
otherwise valid consensual search.
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