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Show Orem-Geneva Times Wednesday, September 19. 1990 Page 16 Conservatives lose ground in 1989 in US Supreme Court decisions While 1988 may have been a "high water mark" for conservatism conser-vatism in the U.S. Supreme Court, a Brigham Young University law professor says right-wing forces on the court sprang a leak in 1989. "Last year, statistically at least, the conservative movement in the Supreme Court lost ground," said Robert Riggs. He and law students stu-dents Mark T. Urban and David W. Johnson completed a detailed statistical analysis of 1989 voting patterns of the Supreme Court justices. jus-tices. "For the 1988 term, which we reported a year ago, the data showed a significant change as a whole toward greater conservatism, conser-vatism, compared with the two immediately im-mediately preceding years," explained ex-plained Riggs. The 1988 court also showed a tendency toward more polarization on issues. "This year, however, the polarization declined, and a slight moderation in conservative dominance appeared," he said. In effect, conservatism on the court, after making notable gains in 1988, has now retreated to 1986 and 1987 levels, he concluded. For example, a look at "swing votes" by the court, where cases were decided by a single vote, confirms con-firms the recent shift to a less conservative con-servative position. "In 1988, the conservative coalition dominated in 26 of 34 swing votes or 76.5 percent of close cases," said Riggs. "In 1989, however, the conservative conserva-tive coalition won in 27 of 41 decision, or 65.9 percent" Riggs admits to being a little surprised by the new data. 'We hadn't expected the conservative decline, modest as it was, because the composition of the court was the same this term as last," he said. "Random factors may account for the difference, but given what we knew about the individual leanings lean-ings of members of the court, we would have predicted results closer to 1988s," he said. In the study, Riggs and his students stu-dents divided the court's decisions into nine groups to classify the justices' views on constitutional interpretation in-terpretation and individual rights. They examined such issues as civil controversies involving a state or the federal government, state and federal criminal cases, First Amendment issues, equal protection protec-tion issues, statutory civil rights claims, federal court jurisdiction complaints, and federalism issues. "Each of the groups is intended to reveal attitudes of the justices toward two 'super-issues' which are relevant to most Supreme Court decision-making: the issue of individual rights and judicial restraint," Riggs explained. In Riggs study, three readers studied each case from the 1989 Child find underway for Early Intervention A child-find program is being conducted by early intervention preschools in Utah County. Early intervention preschools provide services for infants and toddlers, ages birth through 36 months, who have handicaps or developmental delays. Educational programs and therapy services are offered to sup- Kort families with children who ave special needs. Parents whose children are experiencing significant delays in any of the following areas may be eligible for services: cognitive, language, speech, psycho-social, self-help, hearing, vision, or physical development. The early intervention programs in Utah County can be reached by calling one of the following fol-lowing for more information: Provo School District, RECEP -Kevin Morris, Director 374-4915; 374-4915; Nebo School District, Kids Who Count - Suzie Perrett, Director Direc-tor 423-1112 (leave message); Alpine School District, Kids On the Move, Inc. - Karen Hahne, Director - 222-8000, ext 561, and the Utah County Public Health Department - 370-8725. US WEST delivers new directories More than 600,000 copies of, the 1990-91 Salt Lake City Yellow Yel-low and White Pages, published by US WEST Direct, are being delivered to homes, businesses and public locations throughout the Salt Lake Valley and in other areas as requested. As the new books are distributed dis-tributed the old directories can be recycled instead of thrown away. Residents may recycle their old phone books by dropping them at one of 18 Smith's Food & Drug locations. Clearly marked bins will be located in the store parking lots between Sept. 12 and Oct. 8. The project is co-sponsored by Smith's and Waste Management The objective is to keep recyclable goods out of Utah's land-fills term and discussed differences to achieve consensus on the proper classification: Did the justices' votes favor individual rights or judicial restraint? While a concern for individual rights-often identified with the left-and judicial restraints--a concern of the right-are not opposite op-posite poles, there is still often tension between the two views, he said. That tension will likely continue con-tinue as the Supreme Court readies for its October session, says Riggs. "For next year, the resignation of Justice Brennan-a long-time member of the liberal coalition should make a significant sig-nificant difference in the performance perfor-mance of the court, especially if the new justice demonstrates the judicial and ideological conservatism conser-vatism that most observers expect," ex-pect," he predicted. - If confirmed by Congress, David Souter, President Bush's nominee to replace Justice Bren-nan, Bren-nan, will be only one of several factors to watch in the upcoming court term. "It will be interesting to see what kind of impact Souter-and the loss of Brennan--will have," , said Riggs. "The tone of the court may not be that much different, but conservatives could be writing writ-ing more of the decisions." "If Souter does what the presi-, presi-, dent expects, we ought to be able .-to predict more 6-3 decisions in stead of 5-4 decisions," he sug-' gested. . . : ' Even if the court takes a more conservative direction in the next few years, Riggs said he believes i that won't signal the end of dis-, sent or controversy. "When you - have a clearly conservative body seated on the court, you can still .have divisions, a difference of opinion about the degree or nature na-ture of conservatism," he explained. ex-plained. "As a result, we may have to change some of our definitions of liberal' and 'conservative'," he explained,, ex-plained,, ;" , V One justice in particular made a difference in a significant number of last year's swing votes, ; Riggs noted. "Over the years, Jus1 j tice White has voted off and ort with the conservatives and liberals," votinglargelyconserva- ' tive in the split decisions of 1988, he said. 'This year, however, he voted eight times to create a liberal 5-4 majority," he said. "It will be interesting in-teresting next year to see if Justice Jus-tice White stays in this swing vote role." The 1989 study marks Riggs' . fourth annual look at the record of the nation's highest court. "It provides an objective measure of trends on the court," he said. "It's a useful supplement to personal analyses." W Formal results of the study will be featured in an upcoming issue of the BYU Journal of Public Law, published by the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Thi Sale is a real sleeioer! With this many sleep sofas on Sale, it's "Sweet Dreams" for everyone! CM. lSJ I f 4 , ss. lolstery. You need a huge selection, , t Xfpt'I? ' Xi Or fw' which is exactly what we have on Sale right LiiZBcv ymfiv 4'WWJ , V j now. All at prices so low you won't have to sleep (' J -KjjfTT $$y&&&T-7!&- X-r- rmm - Jf jr on them to decide they're just right for you. rsofc&ssobssMS1' H DISTINCTIVE '-p ?r - . 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