Want to Know How They’ll Rule? Just Look Them in the Face

[WSJ Law Blog]

Forget divvying up the Supreme Court justices into in liberal and conservative columns. Try grouping them by their emotions.

Dan Hill of Sensory Logic Inc. studied video footage of each justice to see how their facial muscles moved. Seriously. The 42 facial muscles he studied relate to 23 types of muscle movement, which, in turn, correspond to seven core emotions (studies show).

Mr. Hill and his team them charted the results based on emotional engagement (intensity) and appeal (preference). Here’s what they found:

The results show a small, but decisive gap between the two sets of justices. Those who are more liberal in their voting record exhibit slightly more intensity in their emoting, and most definitely are more positive in their emotional displays.

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