I don't know how many times we have to keep on seeing another search and seizure case where we have a 6-3 opinion where Breyer joins the majority and Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor are the only dissenters. We had the case with cops searching a suspect and undressing him, and the case on whether cops could have dogs sniff on your property among several others. Actually in one of those cases the decision was 5-4 cause Scalia joined the 3 female justices on the court. So, you can make a good case that on search & seizure cases, Scalia is our closest ally and is probably a 50% get:
The case about searches followed a confrontation at the Los Angeles home of Walter Fernandez, who was suspected of a role in a robbery. “You don’t have any right to come in here,” he told police officers. “I know my rights.”
Under a 2006 decision, Georgia v. Randolph, that objection was enough to bar a search of his home without a warrant even if another occupant consented, at least so long Mr. Fernandez remained present.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Stephen G. Breyer joined the majority opinion.
In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, wrote that “the police could readily have obtained a warrant to search the shared residence.”
“Instead of adhering to the warrant requirement, today’s decision tells the police they may dodge it, nevermind ample time to secure the approval of a neutral magistrate, " Justice Ginsburg wrote. “Suppressing the warrant requirement, the court shrinks to petite size our holding in Georgia v. Randolph.”
The alignment of justices in the search case, Fernandez v. California, No. 12-7822, was fairly typical, as Justice Breyer has recently been joining his more conservative colleagues in cases concerning the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The reason why these cases are important is cause I have ZERO faith in congress doing anything to unwind the NSA dragnet program and the Patriot Act more broadly. Because of the Snowden leaks these cases will now have their day in court due to NSA practices being made public and thus giving citizens standing. The effect has already been huge with one district judge striking down the entire program and thoroughly blasting the administration. So the chances of two appeals courts disagreeing on this issue and thus forcing the Supreme Court to be the final arbiter is high, and with Breyer basically a conservative on these issues, I'm worried that all the supreme court will do is ratify these policies and further entrench them into our general understanding of police powers.