Census and sensibility

摘要

LAST JUNE, when his vote clinched a 5-4 majority blessing President Donald Trump's entry ban on travellers from several Muslim countries, Justice Anthony Kennedy subtly wagged his finger in the president's direction. Even when the judiciary grants executive officials "substantial deference", Justice Kennedy wrote, it is an "urgent necessity" that they respect "constitutional guarantees and mandates". A year later, with another controversial Trump administration policy blocked by a trio of federal district courts, the Supreme Court again appears poised to hand the executive branch a victory. But with Justice Brett Ka-vanaugh in Justice Kennedy's chair, the conservative majority is more resolute. Mr Trump will probably score a party-line win.