During the 2000s and 2010s, some of the most talked-about majority opinions coming from the U.S. Supreme Court were being written by Justice Anthony Kennedy — a right-wing libertarian and Ronald Reagan appointee who was fiscally conservative but was protective of abortion rights, gay rights and other civil liberties. Now, in early May 2022, the most talked-about majority opinion is one from socially conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who makes an argument for overturning Roe v. Wade in a leaked majority opinion first reported by Politico. And Alito, according to Reuters reporter Nate Raymond, has canceled an appearance at a judicial conference following Politico's bombshell reporting.
Raymond reports, "Alito had been set to appear at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' judicial conference, a gathering of judges from the New Orleans-based federal appeals court and the district courts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, a person familiar with the matter said. But he has since canceled, the person said, and Patricia McCabe, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, (May 4) said he was not attending. The spokesperson gave no reason for why Alito, who is the justice assigned to hear emergency appeals from the 5th Circuit, was not going."
