The Most Conservative Court Ever?

The New York Times ran an article last weekend arguing that based on a simplified scoring of the Supreme Court's rulings over the last five years, the Roberts court is "the most conservative one in living memory." The data analyzed show that four of the six most conservative justices of all time are sitting on the current bench, including the most conservative justice of all time: Clarence Thomas. On page 4 of the online version, the article also does a fair job of discussing how public attitudes factor into the discussion of what is a liberal or conservative ruling.