Why do some commentators refer to the SCOTUS as a "conservative court"?

Question

Karma only 5 of the 9 voted that the Second Amendment means what it says. The other 4 did in fact "vote against the Second Amendment."

Answer 1

Randall, the media is controlled by rich liberals. They accuse anyone who doesn't agree with them of being an evil conservative. It has been clear for a long time that the objective of the mainstream media has been to promote gun control and bans on certain weapons.

Most recent estimates find that Americans use guns defensively about 2-2.5 million times a year, but yet in 2001, the three major television networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—ran 190,000 words worth of gun-crime stories on their morning and evening national news broadcasts, but ran not a single story mentioning a private citizen using a gun to stop a crime, according to the article Guns, Crime, and Health in the Washington Times.

Answer 2

Kennedy was appointed by Reagan, Souter by Bush the Elder, Thomas by Bush the Elder, Alito by Bush, Jr., and Roberts by Bish, Jr. Stevens was appointed by Ford.

Thats 6 conservative appointees by my count.

What I find interesting, is that when liberally incliced judges vote or decide contrary to what conservatives want, they are considered "activist" judges, and they are "legislating from the bench".  When usually they are following precedent, or the rule of law.

However, when conservative judges do the same thing, you don't hear a peep.

If you don't think this is a conservatove, GOP court, then please expalin to me how they decided that Eminent Domain can be used not just for public works projects (ie: a highway being built through your land) but for economic development too. Which means, that if you aren't doing anything deemed "worthwhile" with your land, then the government can claim it in the name of economic development and basically give it to some millionaire developer.

This is being done in Brookln right now, where Bruce Ratner is trying to build a stadium complex along with residential and commercial office towers. There are people who have refused to sell their land to him so that he had the footprint necessary to achieve this. They were forced to sell, and the case went to the Supreme Court. They agreed.

OUTRAGE! Private land can be confiscated by the government and handed over to rich developers. Thats more pro-business than anyone has a right being.

Answer 3

You are right. The court is divided.  However, 4 of the 9 are quite conservative--Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts.  Four are liberal to moderate--Ginsburg, Souter, Breyer and Stevens.  Kennedy is a swing vote, but votes more often with the conservatives.  So, at this point it can be considered a conservative court on most issues.  Given the make-up of the Court, the upcoming presidential election is therefore a very critical one.  Things can swing one way or the other.

Answer 4

I would suggest you actually research the history of the Supreme Court.  Most judicial scholars will tell you that the Warren Court was the most liberal era of the S.C., while the Burger Court was a "transitional period," and the the Rhenquist court represented a conservative shift.  With the appointment of Alito and Roberts, it's absolute intellectual dishonesty to suggest that the court is anything but conservative.  

Most of the Justices today who are labeled "liberal," are truly moderate in their opinions.  They just appear to be liberal because of the shift to the right that the S.C. has taken since Rhenquist took the reigns.  

And to suggest that a Justice is voting "against the Second Amendment," reveals a profound ignorance of the function of the Supreme Court.

Merely because you disagree with the opinion doesn't mean the Supreme Court was "voting against the Second Amendment."  An honest way of putting it would be that he voted against YOUR interpretation of the Second Amendment.  And I take what I said earlier back: You are not displaying ignorance, you're clearly engaging in intellectual dishonesty.

Answer 5

Often times commentators and scholars refer to courts by the Chief Justice...for example the Warren Court or the Taney Court.  A lot of times the decisions follow the ideology of the Chief Justice.  Although that has not happened yet, maybe the commentators are speculating on the future of the court.