What the G.O.P. Can Learn From DOMA and the Roberts Court

On a day when gay-rights activists have been cheering from the steps of the Supreme Court to Greenwich Village to the West Coast, an interesting question arises: Just how conservative is the Roberts Court?

Not so long ago, the answer seemed straightforward. In reviewing the Court’s record back in 2010, shortly after the Citizens United decision that upended the nation’s campaign-finance laws, Adam Liptak, the Times’ SCOTUS man, reported that it had “not only moved to the right but also became the most conservative one in living memory,” and cited some academic research to support his case. In more than sixty per cent of cases, the data showed, the Roberts Court had issued conservative rulings.

...read more