An Area of Agreement Mr. Ruder is not always at odds with his most frequent dissenters.

The most frequent dissenter was Justice Blackmun, who differed 28 times.

Justice Souter's independence made him a frequent dissenter.

The least frequent dissenter was Justice Kennedy, who dissented in only four of the 5-to-4 decision and in five out of 107 decisions over all.

That has left Mr. Copps a frequent dissenter.

Last year, his first as Chief Justice, he continued to be a frequent dissenter, often staking out his individual views in pungent language.

Once he was the Supreme Court's most frequent dissenter, in the days when the institution's center of gravity was far to his left.

In recent years, as the influence of conservative Justices grew, he became one of the Court's most frequent dissenters.

From 1994 to 2004, on average, Thomas was the third most frequent dissenter on the Court, behind Stevens and Scalia.

He worked well with Griffith and Barton, although he was the most frequent dissenter in their decisions.