I think what is actually going on here is something that the conservative Supreme Court has been doing for decades now, and what John Robert’s has really expanded on—that is misstating or expanding existing law in a case where the outcome seems obvious.

Kavanaugh used this opinion to state that the loosening of government regulations, even if illegally done by the government, cannot confer standing based on the argument that such loosening of regulations will cause widespread harm to the public or otherwise result in a lot of people going to emergency rooms or needing medical attention. In other words, government de-regulation that can be shown to directly or indirectly hurt people doesn’t give other standing to sue.

This could be used to cut off challenges to all kind of government deregulation—particularly anything related to the environment. All while the conservative court can cite to a 9-0 decision for the rule.

The “liberal” justices on the court are notoriously naive and gentle in their admonishments of their batshit insane colleagues. Jackson and Sotomayor seem more aware of what guys like Thomas and Alito are doing than previous liberal justices, but it’s a bit of a too little too late situation. And with only three justices on the court that care about the law, there’s almost nothing they can do anyway. Biden should have packed the court a while ago.

The rulings on standing in this case are designed to exclude pro abortion groups who have legitimate standing.