Here is an interesting, if somewhat one-sided, opinion piece on the Supreme Court and the division between justices seen as liberal and those seen as conservative, and the sort of positions each tend to take.

The summary: Liberal judges tend to vote against individual rights, conservatives vote to uphold individual rights. Look at the 2nd Amendment case where the liberal wing tried to take away the individual right to bear arms. Look at the Kelo takings case, where the liberal justices decided that the government can take our property from us for any reason they decide to justify, while the conservatives said hell no, the government cannot take our property from us except in very extreme circumstances. Conservatives on the court consistently vote in favor of 1st Amendment rights, the liberals frequently vote to restrict our 1st Amendment rights.

If you took out names and political designations, and only described the actual decision in various cases, I bet a lot of self-professed liberals would tend to agree with the conservatives on the court, and be very surprised when they discover which side they picked.