NBC Hits Supreme Court's 'Shift to the Right'

On Saturday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Pete Williams presented a one-sided look at the Supreme Court's "shift to the right," conveying complaints by liberals over recent court rulings, but without showing any conservatives who supported some of the court's recent right-leaning decisions. Williams began his piece by quoting liberal Justice Stephen Breyer's complaint that "It's not often in the law that so few have so quickly changed so much,"  before playing a soundbite of the ACLU's Steven Shapiro: "Civil liberties and civil rights took a beating virtually across the board from race to religion to abortion to speech to the basic right to come into court and sue when you've been a victim of discrimination." Williams also found that Chief Justice John Roberts "has turned out to be more conservative than even some of the court's liberals thought he would be." (Transcript follows)

In spite of the absence of conservative voices in the piece, anchor Lester Holt introduced the report by referring to "both liberals and conservatives agreeing the court has moved to the right." Williams then began by highlighting liberal critics.

PETE WILLIAMS: When the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional public school programs that enroll students based on their race, Justice Stephen Breyer spoke a line in dissent that could have summed up this entire term. "It's not often in the law," he said, "that so few have so quickly changed so much."

STEVEN SHAPIRO, American Civil Liberties Union: Civil liberties and civil rights took a beating virtually across the board from race to religion to abortion to speech to the basic right to come into court and sue when you've been a victim of discrimination.

After mentioning the significance of Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement with Samuel Alito, Williams listed some of the "big legal victories" for conservatives. When referring to the ruling that upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion, Williams merely referred to the practice as "a specific abortion procedure," and incorrectly stated that the procedure had been "declared unconstitutional" by the Supreme Court. Willams: "Besides the landmark school race case decided the last day of the term, the court declared unconstitutional a specific abortion procedure, made it harder to sue for pay discrimination, imposed a limit on free speech rights of students, and loosened a federal restriction on campaign issue ads that run before elections."

Williams sooned relayed that Chief Justice John Roberts "has turned out to be more conservative than even some of the court's liberals thought he would be," although the NBC correspondent probably meant to say that Roberts "has turned out to be even more conservative than some of the court's liberals thought he would be." Professor Daniel Marcus of American University then relayed the "disappointment" of the court's liberals.

WILLIAMS: And legal scholars say the court's new chief justice, John Roberts, has turned out to be more conservative than even some of the court's liberals thought he would be based on his past legal work and confirmation hearing.

Professor DANIEL MARCUS, American University: I don't think they expected to have him on their side as a regular matter, but I think the consistency of his conservative voting on the court has been a disappointment to them.

Below is a complete transcript of the story from the Saturday June 30 NBC Nightly News:

LESTER HOLT: NBC News "In Depth" now. Tonight, the Supreme Court's shift to the right. The court wrapped up its term this week with a blockbuster decision on school desegregation, and by agreeing to hear an appeal from Guantanamo Bay detainees. And while nearly all of this term's major rulings were split decisions, both liberals and conservatives agree the court has moved to the right. NBC's justice correspondent, Pete Williams, reports now "In Depth."

PETE WILLIAMS: When the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional public school programs that enroll students based on their race, Justice Stephen Breyer spoke a line in dissent that could have summed up this entire term. "It's not often in the law," he said, "that so few have so quickly changed so much."

STEVEN SHAPIRO, American Civil Liberties Union: Civil liberties and civil rights took a beating virtually across the board from race to religion to abortion to speech to the basic right to come into court and sue when you've been a victim of discrimination.

WILLIAMS: With Sandra Day O'Connor replaced by Samuel Alito, who has now completed his first full term, the court gave conservatives some big legal victories. Besides the landmark school race case decided the last day of the term, the court declared unconstitutional a specific abortion procedure, made it harder to sue for pay discrimination, imposed a limit on free speech rights of students, and loosened a federal restriction on campaign issue ads that run before elections. All those decisions were 5-4 votes, and the court's fault line now seems clearly set.

Professor ROY SCHOTLAND, Georgetown University: The splits are sharper, and I'm afraid we'd all have to say more bitter than they've been for quite a while.

WILLIAMS: In fact, a third of this term's cases were decided 5-4, the highest share in a decade. And in every one of those split decisions, Anthony Kennedy was the only justice to vote in the majority every time. The court leans more to the right now partly because he tends to vote more often with the conservatives than Sandra Day O'Connor did when she was the swing vote. And legal scholars say the court's new chief justice, John Roberts, has turned out to be more conservative than even some of the court's liberals thought he would be based on his past legal work and confirmation hearing.

Professor DANIEL MARCUS, American University: I don't think they expected to have him on their side as a regular matter, but I think the consistency of his conservative voting on the court has been a disappointment to them.

WILLIAMS: With a presidential campaign coming up, it's unlikely any justice would choose to retire in an election year. So this divided court will not soon change. Pete Williams, NBC News, at the Supreme Court.