It is very tricky to determine the "ideology" (whatever that means) of Supreme Court justices, and to place them on a one-dimensional, left-right type of axis.

That said, the following is pretty neat. In recent years, every Supreme Court justice has gotten more "liberal" since his start date, with the exception of Scalia and Thomas. Why is that? Do the justices fall into the trap of trying to win favor with Washington-types?

Another observation is that with older age, they generally march toward the center of the spectrum. Does this have anything to do with age? Or with the legacy they want to leave?

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but if you have a theory let me know.

(HT: TigerHawk, via Larwyn)