Regarding "Chef" Roberts and the Louisiana abortion ruling

Much is being made of Chief Justice John Roberts's having joined the majority in the Louisiana case, thereby giving the temporary stay a 5-4 majority. It is clear from time to time that Roberts cares as much for the reputation of the Court—and, by extension, his own—as much as much as he cares about the political positions he's held his entire life. If Roe is to die, it's not unreasonable to assume that Roberts would prefer it did so without his fingerprints on the murder weapon. Citizens United, Shelby County, and the overturning of Roe may not be the legacy Roberts wants to leave behind. Hey, given what's going on with the federal courts, that may be as sturdy a lifeboat as can be found.

Not that Roberts has discovered his inner Brennan. In the Court's other major decision Thursday night, he joined the conservative majority in gratuitous cruelty. An inmate in Alabama named Domenique Ray, facing execution this week, found his date with death delayed because the state prison there refused to allow him the spiritual solace of an imam at the time of his execution. Roberts and the other four conservative justices lifted the stay [permitting him to be executed without an imam present]. As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a fierce dissent:

A Christian prisoner may have a minister of his own faith accompany him into the execution chamber to say his last rites.

The fig leaf that the majority used to hide its outright religious bigotry was that Ray waited too long to "seek relief." You'd have to be Susan Collins to believe that one.

  Charles P Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.