This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, September 17th, 2007.

I'm Caleb Brown.

On this Constitution Day, I speak with Cato Institute Vice President for Legal Affairs,

Roger Pillan, about the newest edition of the Cato Supreme Court review.

After this, the first full year of the Roberts Court.

There weren't really any surprises.

In fact, it's striking about this Court that it is pretty predictable.

The early assessments of this first full term of the Roberts court

pointed to how the Conservatives really carried the day, and in a certain level that's true.

Now early on in his confirmation hearings and shortly thereafter,

Chief Judge Roberts spoke about his wish to have the court speak with one voice and more narrowly than it had in the recent past.

That, unfortunately, went by the way.

There were fewer unanimous opinions in this court

than in a decade, about one quarter of the cases

were decided unanimously, and more five four decisions than in a decade about a third of the cases.

Interestingly in those five four decisions Justice Kennedy was on the winning side in every one.

Of the 19 cases that were ideological in the sense that the conservatives were all on one side, the liberals were all on the other side.

In fact, Justice Kennedy was on the winning side in all but two of the court's total number of decisions

this term. But looking at it from an ideological point of view once again.

It's striking that of the 19 ideological cases,

the 13 that went for the conservatives

is countered by the 6 that went for the liberals, but four of those

...