Roberts, right of Kennedy, is new center of Supreme Court
Posted June 29, 2018 7:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice John Roberts is the Supreme Court's new man in the middle. It's just that the middle may have moved well to the right.
The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy means Roberts probably will be the conservative justice closest to the court's four liberals, allowing him to control where it comes down in some of its most contentious cases.
Washington lawyer John Elwood says Roberts will be the justice who determines "how far they go and how fast they go."
Kennedy played a similar role for many years - his votes on gay rights, abortion, the death penalty, the environment, voting rights and affirmative action basically determined the outcome of cases on which the court was divided between liberals and conservatives.
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