Hearing Lessons

If Samuel Alito is eventually confirmed as a justice, as he almost certainly will be, we won’t have a conservative Supreme Court. Most legal conservatives do not regard Justice Anthony Kennedy as one of their number. So even if Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts turn out to be everything a conservative could want in a justice, the conservative bloc on the Court will include only four justices.

Scratch that “only.” In the history of the modern conservative movement, and certainly of the conservative reaction to judicial activism that began during the Warren Court, four represents a high-water mark. The last time conservatives had anything close to this level of strength on the Court was between 1991 and 1993, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Byron White, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas made up the Court’s right wing. And a how-to guide for judicial confirmations.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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If Samuel Alito is eventually confirmed as a justice, as he almost certainly will be, we won’t have a conservative Supreme Court. Most legal conservatives do not regard Justice Anthony Kennedy as one of their number. So even if Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts turn out to be everything a conservative could want in a justice, the conservative bloc on the Court will include only four justices.

Scratch that “only.” In the history of the modern conservative movement, and certainly of the conservative reaction to judicial activism that began during the Warren Court, four represents a high-water mark. The last time conservatives had anything close to this level of strength on the Court was between 1991 and 1993, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Byron White, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas made up the Court’s right wing. And a how-to guide for judicial confirmations.