It seems that you have drifted wildly off the original topic of the 1801 appointments here Paul. But, since you brought it up, I’ll take the bait. 

The press habitually mischaracterizes controversies in our federal judiciary as progressive liberals versus conservatives or Republicans V. Democrats.  In reality the fundamental debate is over how much authority unelected judges have to set public policy and all too frequently, IMHO, make law under the rubric of a living constitution.