The Kennedy Court?

(Hat tip: Southern Appeal)

The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal notes that, with respect to Justice Anthony Kennedy, "one man with caprice makes a majority":

The Roberts Court started its second term this week, but to read the coverage you might think that the nine-member Supreme Court has been reduced to Justice Anthony Kennedy's single vote.

Of course, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts are the new members, and it remains to be seen how they'll vote on some of the hot-button issues the court will hear this term. But in replacing Sandra Day O'Connor and William Rehnquist on the court, Messrs. Roberts and Alito have thrust Justice Kennedy onto center-stage, as he now stands squarely between the four liberal and four conservative Justices on a number of issues. We had a foretaste of this last term, with Justice Kennedy playing kingmaker in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and Rapanos v. U.S. In both cases, the vote was effectively 4-1-4, with Justice Kennedy controlling the outcome and muddying the jurisprudence.

***
It's unlikely we've seen the last one-man majority from Justice Kennedy. This possibility is not lost on the political left, which explains the current publicity given to Justice Kennedy's role. The hope seems to be that Justice Kennedy can be conditioned with carrots and sticks to make him the next Blackmun or Souter--earning praise for his "moderation" if he votes with the liberal wing, but earning obloquy if he tacks right.

***
What is clear is that Justice Kennedy enjoys being in the position of he who decides. It seems this term will offer him ample scope to play Solomon. The problem with this "swing-vote" theory is that it trivializes the Court into a results-based political body when there are real judicial disputes to settle. The Court would be best helped if Justice Kennedy pointed it toward clarity rather than judicial confusion.

[More]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
TIME on the Supreme Court's New Term

Here We Go Again: For Supreme Court's New Term, Rise of a New Centrist

Swing Justice - Anthony Kennedy Attacks the Media and Wonders if Liberals Hate Him

O'Connor's Rightful Heir?

Anthony Kennedy — The New Sandra Day O'Connor

Now That's My Idea Of "Far Outside The Legal Mainstream"

Bringing Darth Kennedy Back From The Dark Side