In the era of the Warren Court, in the nineteen-sixties, the concept of judicial restraint was largely associated with the political right—with resisting judicial interference in the governance of sovereign states. In recent years, though, the political right has tried to use the courts to push its own agenda. If a newly constituted Court establishes an abiding commitment to judicial restraint, the right as well as the left is likely to suffer disappointments. Two years ago, in his Senate testimony, Roberts said, “My clients and their positions are liberal and conservative across the board.” He was speaking, of course, about his work as an advocate, not his future as a final arbiter of the nation’s laws.