[jonno]

Alito Jr. wrote the majority opinion in the 5-to-4 decision. He was joined by the court’s four more conservative justices.

Alito is considered more liberal than Kennedy?

I can't keep track...

[AuH2ORepublican]

No, Alito is (correctly) considered more conservative than Kennedy. The author’s use of the phrase “joined by the court’s four more conservative justices” was shoddy writing; he meant that Alito’s opinion had been joined by the other four justices that, along with Alito, comprise the Court’s “more conservative justices.”