Noah Feldman, Columnist

Justice Roberts Is a Different Kind of Swing Voter

The balance of power in the Supreme Court is now in the hands of a true believer in judicial restraint who wants to avoid partisan politics.

July 1, 2019 at 6:01 PM UTC

By Noah Feldman

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

It’s fun to be the man in the middle.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

When the 2018 Supreme Court term began in October, all eyes were on the confirmation of the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh. By the time the term wrapped up in June, the center of attention was Chief Justice John Roberts.

And that’s where the focus is likely to stay as long as the court continues in this configuration. So far, the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy last summer has not had the effect of turning the court into a reliable forum for 5-4 decisions with the conservatives on top. Instead, Roberts seems to be embracing the role of the centrist — as he did most prominently in this term’s marquee case, blocking (at least temporarily) President Donald Trump’s administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census.