RIGHT TORSO:

Roberts rules the Supreme Court (Michael Doyle, 6/26/07, McClatchy Newspapers)

The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed the contours that are taking shape under Chief Justice John Roberts. [...]

While three of the five decisions Monday arrived on a 5-4 majority, they showcased what has become an ideologically conservative and business-friendly, if narrow, majority.

Since last October, in Roberts' second term as chief justice, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has claimed 11 victories and seen only two defeats on business-related cases.

"We always thought the [Chief Justice William] Rehnquist court was a good forum for business," noted Maureen Mahoney, a lawyer who has argued 18 cases before the court, "but the Roberts court is even better." [...]

Even more than in previous years, the court was skeptical of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, considered the nation's most liberal. With Monday's decisions, the Supreme Court has reversed the 9th Circuit on 17 out of 19 opinions issued since October.

The headline in our local rag referred to the Court's "Right Wing," but a consistent majority is the body proper, no?

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 26, 2007 7:43 AM