Here are two reasonable ones. The first concerns Roberts’ support for untrammeled executive power in wartime. I’d expect nothing less from conservative judges, but given the fact that our current war is indefinite, some worries are legit. Here’s another view:
My guess is that he would not vote to overrule Roe v. Wade but would sustain state efforts to chip away at abortion rights. On economic liberties, however, he might well be a more adventurous innovator. He wrote articles as a law student suggesting that courts use novel theories of the Takings and Contracts clauses of the Constitution to strike down state action affecting business (such as legislation creating new rights for workers). He has done advisory work for right-wing public-interest firms like the Washington Legal Foundation. He may well be a quiet but effective influence for the piecemeal demolition of the regulatory welfare state.
Fine by me. Do I expect him to be a friend of gay rights? Nope. But I didn’t expect that of Kennedy either. Sometimes, reason finds a way.
The Dish 