This quote comes nearly at the end of the piece: "It is the ideological direction of the decisions that has changed. When the Rehnquist court struck down laws, it reached a liberal result more than 70 percent of the time. The Roberts court has tilted strongly in the opposite direction, reaching a conservative result 60 percent of the time."

Illustration, Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., 07/24/10. (art: Vivienne Flesher/NYT)