Roberts and Kavanaugh

In PowerLine, Paul Mirengoff wonders,

Are we stuck with a milquetoast Supreme Court? Maybe. It ducks hugely important issues as to which conservatives may have a majority, doesn’t seem hesitant to decide ones where the liberals have five or more votes, and appears partial to deciding cases where ideology plays no part.

To be fair, come June we’ll see some big decisions. But for those who follow the Court closely, this Term might end up being as noteworthy for the issues the Court refused to decide as for the ones it decided.

This is not what Trump voters expected when they voted for a candidate who made the Supreme Court one of his main issues in 2016.

What went wrong? Two things, I believe, one of which Trump couldn’t do anything about.

First, Chief Justice Roberts wants to avoid controversy, so as to “protect” the Supreme Court. God forbid that the “conservative” majority issue too many conservative decisions. The media might start to question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.

Second, Justice Kavanaugh wants to avoid controversy. The rumor mill has it that he plans to “lay low” during his first year due to all the controversy that surrounded his confirmation. I can’t vouch for the truth of this rumor, but his behavior to date is consistent with it.

Kavanaugh can wait ten years. He’ll always be a lightning rod for the left and its media allies unless he turns out to be another Justice Kennedy (or maybe becoming another Justice Souter is required).

Chief Justice Roberts strikes me as the more principled of the two reluctant Justices. At least he’s protecting the interest (as he sees it) of an institution. Kavanaugh seems to be protecting only his own interest.

Do you think any Justices appointed by Democratic presidents would be behaving as Roberts and Kavanaugh are if there were five of them on the Supreme Court? I don’t either.

Read more here.