Well, I do think that this piece is basically right. Roberts would undoubtedly prefer to be in the majority of a modestly conservative 6-3 decision he wrote himself than in the minority of 5-4 decision with Thomas writing for the majority. BUT don’t assume that he can’t peel off Kavanaugh or Gorsuch or both. Kavanaugh has shown hints of being an establishment guy too. And Gorsuch seems to enjoy winning accolades from LGBT etc.
BUT don’t assume that he can’t peel off Kavanaugh or Gorsuch or both.
It seems pretty obvious to me that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will take turns voting with Roberts and the three Democrats. I’m happy to have ACB on SCOTUS but assuming she is solid it’s still 5-4 against us on most big cases.