(CNN) Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed her first signed majority opinion last week, a momentous occasion for any new justice, and now she officially has the "respect" of the dissenting side. Under court tradition, a new justice is usually assigned a relatively uncontroversial opinion that is often, although not always, unanimous. Over 11 pages of tightly crafted judicial reasoning, Barrett ruled in favor of the federal government in a case brought by environmental groups seeking Environmental Protection Agency materials under an exception to the Freedom of Information Act. But eyebrows were raised when Justice Stephen Breyer, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, not only dissented, but omitted a key word in his dissent. Except in the most fiery cases when a justice really thinks the majority has gone astray, he or she usually ends an opinion with some formulation of "I respectfully dissent."

Source: CNN March 08, 2021 17:03 UTC