Amy Fried is professor emerita of political science at the University of Maine, where she retired in 2023 after holding the John Mitchell Nickerson professorship. Her research examines the history and political uses of public opinion in the United States. Her books include Pathways to Polling and, with Douglas B. Harris, At War With Government. She writes Political Sightlines and previously wrote a regular column for the Bangor Daily News.
Role at the time: Political scientist and Political Sightlines author, in an October 22 column
Challenged the characterization
Statement summary
Fried argues that Collins's six-vote explanation confuses upholding Mississippi's law with overturning Roe. She distinguishes Roberts's narrower position from the five-justice overruling majority.
“Thus it was a five person majority without the Chief Justice that ended a federal right to abortion.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Susan Collins's bad Kavanaugh math fits her blame-shifting patternFull column; section on the Dobbs majority
Why we used this label
The reference point is Collins's justification for her confirmation vote. Fried challenges her account of Kavanaugh's role in Dobbs.
Collins says she does not regret voting to confirm Kavanaugh, despite opposing his Dobbs vote. Her critics argue that her confirmation judgment helped enable the ruling.
