Justice Ginsburg revealed a key part of liberals' strategy this term

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Kevin Lamarque

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (L) and Stephen Breyer chat before President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says in a new interview that the liberal justices had a huge revelation following the Supreme Court decision that officially gave George W. Bush the presidency in 2000.

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In an interview with NPR this week, Ginsburg said the liberal justices realized after the high-profile decision that decided the presidency in 2000 that they needed to approach opinions in a more unified way.

As Ginsburg tells it, the 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore that ended the Florida recount, ceding the electing to George W. Bush, caused chaos among the liberal justices. This resulted in multiple written opinions, which initially confused journalists.

After the ruling, the left-leaning justices resolved to speak with one voice in cases where they were all on the same side.

"When we are in that situation again, let's be in one opinion," Ginsburg recalled, according to NPR.

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The liberal Justices have had a somewhat surprising amount of success this term, winning more 5-4 decisions than the conservative justices.

Ginsburg also said that her more conservative peers on the court may have learned a thing or two from the lock-step approach to opinion-writing.

"Next term I think you'll see some of my colleagues will be more disciplined," Ginsburg said.

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