On their records and their statements, yes. But that's because Scalia was a hard line right-wing religious nut-case about practically everything, not because Alito is notably progressive about much. It's the difference between a blazing fire, and solar fusion.
It isn't even that Alito and Roberts are noticeably more liberal that Scalia, but that they're noticeably more professional. Scalia was a transparent partisan who made decisions based on the effect they would have for his acquaintances or his pet ideas; Constitutional literalism was his rationale, not his driving motivation. Only Thomas is so bankrupt a judge currently on the court, and he doesn't have Scalia's intelligence, knowledge, or wit—traits he used pretty much for evil.
That's an excellent essay, thanks. It's worth noting though that "in later years," when Scalia was disappointing, covers a good half of his time on the big bench. (Not that I think Pierce would disagree.)
I've seen arguments to the effect that it's Alito who's been the most consistently conservative (and some rankings have Clarence Thomas more conservative than Scalia, though my impression is that Thomas has had less influence, since he rarely asks questions or writes majority opinions).
That's the rub--influence. Scalia was highly intelligent, extremely well-written, and had an exceptional legal mind. (Just because he used those gifts for evil doesn't mean they weren't there.) I am sure that he was able to pull the other conservative justices even more to the right than they would be naturally, and now that force is gone. He was also an incredibly aggressive questioner during oral arguments, so that process will likely be very different in future cases. Scalia's death affects A LOT more than the likely vote split.
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james_davis_nicoll) wrote2016-02-13 08:27 pm
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http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a42134/antonin-scalia-death-charles-pierce/
He thinks Scalia gradually slid into hackery.
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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/none-to-the-right-of-samuel-alito/431946/
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