Supreme Court tilt to right had its limits
The 2006-2007 term was dominated by notable conservative rulings.
from the July 2, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
Kennedy as swing voter
The most significant development at the court this term was the emergence of Justice Kennedy, a conservative centrist swing voter, as the center of power in the Roberts court.
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In the 2006-2007 term, the high court handed down 24 opinions decided by 5-to-4 votes. Kennedy was on the winning side in all 24 cases.
Scholars had to search back decades to find a justice who might come close in achieving such a feat. Former Justice O'Connor, often called the most powerful woman in America when she was on the court, never did it.
Professor Van Alstyne says in his 45 years of teaching constitutional law he has never seen a justice who was "as crucial in so many pivotal constitutional cases as has been true of Justice Kennedy this term."
Thomas Goldstein, a Supreme Court advocate and close court observer, offers a similar assessment. "By and large it is Justice Kennedy's court across an array of questions," he told a recent gathering at the Washington Legal Foundation. "He has such complete control it is just extraordinary."
The essence of Kennedy's power is his position at the center of the court. While many legal disputes are disposed of with unanimous or lopsided majorities, the most contentious social issues tend to split the nine justices 4-4 into liberal and conservative wings. When this happens, Kennedy often controls the outcome by either writing the majority opinion or authoring a concurring opinion that limits the majority opinion.
As a result, it is Kennedy who decides not only which way the law goes, but also how far to the left or right it goes.
In the six biggest cases of the term, Kennedy joined conservatives five times.
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