The Worst Monday in October

“It’s a delicate dance: All of the justices on the right flank of the court support in principle the deregulatory, pro-business, vote-suppressive, pro-gun agenda of the appeals court’s nuttiest fringe. But the exigent questions around how far they wish to be prodded from courts below, and how much of their precious remaining public confidence they wish to squander, means that the cases before them are analyzed not so much for neutral legal principles as for strategic, publicly acceptable gains for Leonard Leo’s Christmas list.” Slate: This Supreme Court Term’s Grimmest Cases Share One Thing in Common.