A funny thing happened on the way to the ... um... courthouse. When the Previous Occupant of the White House was able to nominate 3 justices to the Supreme Court, the pols, pundits, and vox populi all predicted the end of civilization as we know it, drowned in a pool of conservative ideology. It seemed like the final undignified middle finger to the majority of the voting public.

Things, however, have turned out a bit differently. The two existing conservatives on the court (Alito and Thomas) are being left to grumble in their little corner, while Chief Justice Roberts and all the young kids are meeting in the middle (including those labeled "most liberal").

The ACA case was a definite eye-opener. One would have thought that the ACA was done for, a noble experiment of the U.S. dipping its toe into the pool of healthcare-for-all drowned in the bathtub of small government. Instead, the vote was an astounding 7-2 to reject the case, as the plaintiffs had no standing. The constitutionality of the law was not mentioned, something that is worrisome, but considering this is the 3^rd failed attempt by Republicans to judicially scuttle the popular legislation post-enactment, it seems safe for now.

On the other hand, the court ruled unanimously to strike down a Philadelphia case where the Catholic church was suing because they were excluded from participating in foster placement, due to their refusal to consider same-sex-couple families. The ruling was VERY narrow, siding with the Church because Philadelphia was not applying its own rules equally. Even though the "equal protection under the law" rationale was embraced by all 9 justices, the conservatives thought the ruling did not go far enough.

There still remains a test case that has not yet been brought before this panel, but likely will at some point - a challenge to legal abortion (or - conversely - a challenge to "trap" laws aimed at making abortions nearly impossible to attain). That will be the moment when we can all finally exhale - either in relief or disbelief. However, I can't think of any SCOTUS case where rights - once attained - were taken away.

I hope I never live to see that.

I also hope that Thomas and/or Alito step down in the next year so that President Biden can appoint another justice who will use the law (and not political ideology) to render their decisions.

And may the current newest justices continue to surprise us.