University of St. Thomas Law Journal Volume 4 Article 8 Issue 2 Fall 2006 2006 Catholic and Evangelical Supreme Court Justices: A Theological Analysis Robert F. Cochran Jr. Bluebook Citation Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Catholic and Evangelical Supreme Court Justices: A Theological Analysis, 4 U. St. Thomas L.J. 296 (2006). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UST Research Online and the University of St. Thomas Law Journal. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLE CATHOLIC AND EVANGELICAL SUPREME COURT JUSTICES: A THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ROBERT F. COCHRAN, JR. * The last three decades have witnessed a substantial growth in Catholic and evangelical! influence on public life in the United States. Three of the last five presidents (Carter, Clinton, and G.W. Bush) were evangelicals and evangelicals were widely credited with having elected the other two (Rea gan and G.H.W. Bush). Five of the nine Supreme Court justices (Scalia, * Robert F. Cochran, Jr., Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law and Director, Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, Pepperdine University. Portions of this essay appeared earlier in "The Catholic Court Appeal: Why So Many Catholic Justices on the Supreme Court? Why Now?" TOUCHSTONE 40-45 (July/August 2006). Other portions were given as a speech at the University of St. Thomas Law Journal Symposium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 10, 2006, entitled "Catholicism and the Court: The Relevance of Faith Traditions to Jurisprudence." Other portions of it were stimulated by questions and comments made at that conference. My thanks to the organizers and participants of that conference for their contribution to the conference and to my thinking.