[binaryblitz]

Supreme Court justices are appointed for life. There would be no reason to rule either way based on the election cycle. That's the whole point.

[noelsusman]

There is definitely a reason. Supreme Court Justices have policy preferences like anyone else, and if a particular decision would hurt the electoral chances of their preferred politicians then that's a reason to go the other way.

Whether or not they actually do this is another question, but the incentive is still there even with a lifetime appointment.