Barrett now gets to have the last laugh and also redeem herself. The underlying contention was that she was a political hack and a religious nut—a pawn who would do Republicans’ bidding rather than a legal thinker with principles and a mind of her own. The assumption here was that originalism and textualism is all a scam. But while it is true that two Republican nominees (Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch) dissented, the fact that four conservative Justices, including ACB, voted to uphold the ACA suggests to me that they are still capable of prioritizing the appropriate role of the judicial branch (to interpret the law) ahead of their own personal political leanings (and legislating from the bench). These conservative Justices probably don’t like Obamacare, but they were willing to put that aside and follow the law. In this case, that meant correctly (in my view) ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue. As Justice Thomas wrote, “...we must assess the current suit on its own terms. And, here, there is a fundamental problem with the arguments advanced by the plaintiffs in attacking the act—they have not identified any unlawful action that has injured them.”