[SoConPubbie]

Ruling the SC wrong is not in the powers of an appelllate judge

Not their powers, but every Justice/Judge can add comments to their rulings as to why another courts rulings are incorrect. They have no official effect but give notice to the rest of the world about where that particular Justice/Judge is coming from.

As I have posted to you before, Justice Thomas does this all the time, as well as, I believe, Scalia did this as well.

I prefer this type of Jurist as it lets me know what they are thinking and how they are approaching different facets of the law.

This is one of the factors that go into the measure of whether or not a Jurist is a Great Jurist, or just following the mechanical rules of being a Jurist.

[AndyJackson]

Justice Thomas does this all the time, as well as, I believe, Scalia

It's called dicta. Dicta by a SC justice invites appellants to address those issues on future appeals. But, they are SC justices, which is different from an appellate court judge on an issue that he has already addressed.

[zeugma]

Not their powers, but every Justice/Judge can add comments to their rulings as to why another courts rulings are incorrect. They have no official effect but give notice to the rest of the world about where that particular Justice/Judge is coming from.

Exactly. Dissents and concurrences tell you a lot more about a judge's political philosophy than opinions do. Opinions tend to be at least partially crafted as objects of consensus, and often don't go as far as the author would perhaps like for it to.