The Puzzle of Unanimity

The judicial bookshelf

“…37 Here, the authors insist, is another contribution of their research in that the proposition that the Justices "reach agreement when the legal answer is more obvious and clear" had "never been empirically or systematically tested" even though intuitively the claim would seem to be correct. 38 In such situations, "the influence of attitudes on opinion consensus is mitigated."…”

“…Separate opinions, expressing divergent views or conclusions will, I hope, be deferred until we've exhausted all other efforts to reach a common view." 31 In this instance, the Chief's pleadings carried the day. Burger's published opinion on April 20, 1971, was for a unanimous Bench.…”