allow me to reiterate what C's Wife said, Roberts is unquestionably more conservative than O'connor. that is a given. Upon what do you base your understanding of Roberts' judicial philosophy, ALessandro?
There is a growing pile of materials, in Roberts' opinions and in the Reagan-era documents dribbling out of the White House, that indicates he has strongly held and far-right views on major fronts—abortion, religion, and executive power. There's ammunition for principled opposition to be mined here. But (as the statement cited in my post above testifies) Roberts lacks is a clear judicial philosophy. As a result, proponents of judicial restraint — an approach to the law that's become as fashionable among liberals as conservatives — are eager to embrace him as one of their own. Leftist advocates of restraint celebrate justices who don't reach out beyond the facts of a case to decide more than they need to and who respect existing Supreme Court precedent. Roberts' judicial conservatism will stay on this line. Which is very different from that judicial philosophy, willing to jettison past anti-costitutional decisions(Thomas and Scalia).