A justice in a sheep's robes?

Judging someone based on their first day of work seems hardly fair, and initial impressions oftentimes prove wrong. So let's hope that such is the case here.

But for now, I am starting to become afraid that John Kerry will soon regret his attempted filibuster of Samuel Alito – not because of the political ramifications, but because Mr. Alito may just be a touch more liberal than most figured.

It took the man barely a day to break ranks with Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and John Roberts – the trio of justices conservatives hoped he would mimic – and vote with a more liberal block. The Associated Press reports:

New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservative Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.

Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas supported lifting the stay, but Alito joined the remaining five members in turning down Missouri's last-minute request to allow a midnight execution.

Digging a little deeper – actually, digging far between the lines – one might read into Mr. Alito's behavior during the State of the Union address last night as well. As the Washington Post notes:

At times, Alito followed the lead of the other three justices who sat with him in the front row. When Bush said "We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep it," Thomas looked at Roberts, who looked at Breyer, who gave an approving shrug; all four gentlemen stood and gave unanimous applause.

At other times, Alito showed independence from his senior colleagues. When Bush delivered the stock line "The state of our union is strong," Alito dissented while the other three robed justices in the front row applauded.

Though, in the interest of full disclosure, it also appears as though Mr. Alito may have been the sole ovation of the four justices for some of the evening's other, more conservative lines. So the level of applause emerging from the front row of the House chamber may not be the best of indicators after all.

The true tests will, of course, come later. No one in the Senate voted for Mr. Alito or against him based on a single Missouri case that was yet to even emerge as a serious issue.

Besides, it even took David Souter a few years to show his true colors.