They're Back -- Six Supreme Court Justices at SOTU

Despite all the speculation about whether the justices would or would not sit out this year's State of the Union, we're back to where we started before all the drama. Six justices will attend tonight's address--the exact number who attended last year, and almost the identical lineup.

We expect Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The only difference is that new Justice Kagan will be there this year instead of Justice Samuel Alito, who is out of town. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas also will sit out this year--but they never go, so you can't read anything into that.

As I suggested yesterday, it seemed almost inevitable that we'd have at least five there. We have a new Justice who presumably feels obligated or flat-out wants to attend her first SOTU. We have three other liberals who typically attend, as well, and we have Justice Kennedy, also a perennial SOTU enthusiast.

The Big Question was whether CJ Roberts would show up, since he has publicly questioned why in the world the justices show up for this "political pep rally," and since it's frankly not his scene.

But in the end, Roberts, the institutionalist, prevailed. As leader of the Court, he will join the other five--which seems to me like a good move, not only for the Court but for the public's perception of it. Now we won't have to listen to endless, stupid commentaries about how the conservatives stayed home in a huff or how the liberals showed up to support "their" President. Tonight, they'll be a group of six. Just like last year.