Here’s what a find disappointing about this decision and so many of the other 5-4 conservative “victories”:
When the liberals assemble a majority and issue an opinion, such as the one striking down teenage murderer death sentences and invalidating anti-sodomy statutes, they issue a sweeping, unqualified decision that moves the ball appreciably to the left.
When the conservatives get 5 votes, invariably one of the justices (now Kennedy but formerly O’Connor) waffles somewhat and refuses to go the distance, as in the Seattle/Louisville cases. There’s always a lack of courage to do the right thing when it really comes down to it.
It’s a reflection of CJ Roberts’ judicial philosophy that advocates judicial restraint. He argued that the SCOTUS should decide only on the matter that is brought to the court. More than that, I think, he considers it somekind of judicial activism.
That is because the 'conservatives' are not really moral conservatives, that is, seeing things as either right or wrong.
They are legal positivists who deal with the law as simply given, and base their decisions on how a particular law is formulated, not its moral rightness.
The Left, on the other hand, does see all issues as either right or wrong and will ignore clear Constitutional writing to impose their own view of morality on us.
We need to put men on the Supreme Court who understand that our nation was founded on the moral absolute of God given individualism found in the Declaration of Independence and all law needs to reflect that underling truth.
Partisanship gets the best of them, even when they’re charged with the responsibility to “judge with an unbiased eye”.