Power Shifts in Scalia's Favor on Supreme Court
WASHINGTON -- It has been two decades in the making, but this is the year Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court's most outspoken dissenter, could emerge as a leader of a new conservative majority among the justices.Between now and late June, the court is set to hand down decisions in four areas of law -- race, religion, abortion regulation and campaign finance -- where Scalia's views may now represent the majority.
In each of those areas, the retirement of centrist Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her replacement with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. figure to tip the court to the right. That would give 70-year old Scalia the chance to take on a role that has largely eluded him: speaking for the court in major rulings.
Details here from David G. Savage of the Los Angeles Times.