After agreeable term, Supreme Court is back to being disagreeable

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is back to its disagreeable ways.

After a 2013-14 term in which two-thirds of the cases were decided unanimously, that percentage has dropped to a more pedestrian 44%.

For this time of year, when about half of the cases have been decided, that’s lower than usual — and more in line with where the court usually winds up in June.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who loves to display the court’s cohesiveness amid claims that it’s the lone non-partisan branch of government, did his part Monday. He delivered a tightly written, 12-page, unanimous decision in a bankruptcy case that got precious little attention.

Its holding: “A bankruptcy court’s order denying confirmation of a debtor’s proposed repayment plan is not a final order that the debtor can immediately appeal.”

To date, those 9-0’s have been more the exception than the rule. The justices have split 5-4 on a handful of cases, 6-3 on seven more, 7-2 on another five and, in one instance, 8-1, according to statistics kept by the authoritative website Scotusblog

The group of 5-4 cases includes three of the most controversial on the docket: allowing a challenge to a Republican redistricting plan in Alabama that packed black voters into urban districts; letting Florida (and 29 other states) restrict judicial candidates from soliciting campaign funds; and reversing the federal government’s use of a destruction-of-evidence law to prosecute a local Florida fisherman.

Another major case, in which the court allowed a pregnant worker to pursue a job-discrimination case against UPS, was decided 6-3. But the court also ruled unanimously in one major case, deciding that Arkansas prison officials could not force a Muslim prisoner to shave off his beard.

While last year’s kumbaya

Further evidence that the low unanimity index could remain low: Three of the most controversial cases were heard in February (Obamacare), March (clean-air rules) and April (same-sex marriage). Don’t hold your breath for 9-0 rulings on those subjects.