, Columnist
Roberts, No Centrist, Is in the Supreme Court’s Middle
The latest swing justice is conservative, but it’s his institutionalism that gives him the capacity to surprise.
Two out of three.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In the last 15 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has had three swing justices, those most likely to deliver the decisive vote when the other eight are deadlocked. They are Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and (now) John Roberts. They’re very different from one another, and there’s never been one quite like Roberts.
A swing justice has outsized influence. Whether the issue before the court involves voting rights, free speech, presidential power or abortion, the swing justice is the person to whom lawyers most direct their attention.