The Supreme Court wraps up its term, inching to the right

THE SUPREME COURT opened for business in October amid high drama over President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, a 30-year veteran. Following testimony from a high-school classmate that he had assaulted her as a teenager, Brett Kavanaugh, Mr Kennedy’s more conservative former clerk, squeaked through the Senate by a 50-48 vote. In some ways, Justice Kavanaugh has met expectations. He voted to preserve a gigantic cross on public land in Maryland. He rebuffed several last-minute stay requests in death-penalty cases.

The conservative justices took turns joining the liberal justices in nine 5-4 victories—and they chalked up only half as many wins in closely divided cases as they did a year ago. It seems the partisan confirmation fight may have tamed Mr Kavanaugh a bit in his first go-round. The junior justice disappointed abortion opponents when he joined the liberals and John Roberts, the chief, in refusing to hear two challenges to funding for Planned Parenthood. He broke with the conservative bloc in an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, holding that consumers could sue the company for gouging them on its app store. And in Flowers v Mississippi—provoking an irate dissent from Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas—he sided with a black death-row inmate whose trials were infected by racial bias in jury selection.