After Stevens, the senior justice would be Antonin Scalia, a 1986 appointee of President Reagan, but he generally sides with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Kennedy, a 1988 Reagan appointee, is next in line.
“Before and after Justice Stevens, it was often the case that if a ‘liberal’ result is possible, it is because Justice Kennedy is leaning that way,” said Walter Dellinger, solicitor general under President Clinton. “But after Stevens, Justice Kennedy will be the senior justice in almost any liberal majority, and he will assign the opinion to himself or another justice. It may even, at the margin, influence how he votes.”
Dellinger said that if Kennedy’s view of an issue is between that of the four who lean to the right and four who lean to the left, he could vote with the liberals and control the result.
“He might honestly believe that he can best achieve a result he believes is legally optimal if he leans left and writes a cautious opinion himself,” Dellinger said.
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