Buddies of John and Elena

In November, Ruth Marcus’s column opened with this anecdote:

On the ultimate day of oral arguments final time period, the chief justice’s voice cracked with emotion as he bade farewell to the retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer. It was a putting second for the usually buttoned-up John G. Roberts Jr., and one which appeared to suggest greater than sorrow on the departure of a longtime colleague. It’s not far-fetched to think about that Roberts was mourning the decisive finish of his imaginative and prescient of presiding over an establishment seen as working above the partisan fray. “I’ve misplaced my solely buddy on the court docket,” Roberts informed somebody afterward.

Roberts informed somebody who informed Ruth Marcus, or one thing like that. My preliminary response was, what about Justice Kavanaugh? Roberts and Kavanaugh vote like two peas in a average pod. But, apparently, Robert doesn’t think about his fellow Chevy Chaser a buddy. Ouch.

Now, we’ve a column from Josh Gerstein at Politico about Justice Kagan. Her pals are additionally speaking to the press.

In interviews, pals and allies of the 62-year-old justice counsel she is at a serious crossroads — mulling whether or not the breakdown within the broader American political scene has rendered her decadelong effort to seek out compromise and consensus on the nation’s highest court docket out of date, whereas sowing doubts about her future.

The truth that her feedback appear to have prompted equally uncommon public retorts by a few of her conservative colleagues — principally Justice Samuel Alito — solely underscored the sense of brewing discontent.

“She’s clearly not very pleased,” stated one longtime affiliate, who like many interviewed for this story requested to talk anonymously as a result of sensitivity of the problems concerned and resulting from concern about affect on circumstances pending on the court docket.

Many noticed her feedback as a profound warning that each one shouldn’t be effectively on the court docket, each when it comes to relations between the justices and when it comes to its historic popularity.

…

“Elena may be very intentional and personable,” one Kagan affiliate stated when requested concerning the liberal justice’s uncommon public criticism of her colleagues. “She tried the opposite route, proper? … She went skeet capturing with Scalia. She traveled with Gorsuch to Iceland … She’s tried every part. She was going to be the bridge builder.”

In June 2020, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kagan had been on the prime of the world. In just about each case, Roberts and Kagan had been capable of attain some compromise to get to 5. Actually, each compromise went to the left. The soiled secret is that “compromise” all the time serves the left. Present me a single “compromise” choice that advances conservative jurisprudence. However no matter, Roberts thought he was in cost. I jokingly referred to Kagan as the true Chief Justice.

What a distinction two years makes. With Justice Ginsburg’s passing, the Chief’s fifth vote is not wanted. And Justice Kagan is finished attempting to construct bridges. No marvel she is “not pleased.” Kagan joined the Courtroom with the objective of tempering the rightward lurch. Bear in mind Laurence Tribe’s notorious letter to President Obama, which stated that Kagan, fairly than Sotomayor, would be capable to construct bridges to Justice Kennedy? However now she will be able to solely stand by and watch. All these years of fastidiously discussing stare decisis went out the window in Dobbs.