Unanimous and Surprising—Supreme Court Cases You Didn't Expect

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione analyze a remarkable set of unanimous Supreme Court rulings—authored by Justices Jackson, Kagan, and Sotomayor—in cases involving discrimination standards, gun manufacturer liability, and religious freedom. John explains why these once-controversial topics produced unanimous decisions and what this reveals about the lasting impact of the textualist-originalist judicial movement. Mark and John discuss the broader implications for lower courts and future litigation, the strategic timing of these rulings, and why these decisions signal a shift in the court’s interpretive approach.