Scalian

Alito wrote an indignant dissent. He compared Gorsuch’s opinion to a pirate ship, flying the false flag of Scalian textualism.

Roberts surely also realizes the Alito position is absurd. He cares deeply about judicial restraint, another Scalian principle that is increasingly ignored by activist conservatives.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s silence hints that she may turn out to be the truest Scalian on the court: textualist in statutes but originalist in constitutional law.