Beyond that, she is at the dead center of the court in this line of cases.
As in earlier rulings in this line of cases, the unusual majority included Justices Stevens, Souter, Thomas and Ginsburg.
Yesterday's 6-to-3 decision, with a majority opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, broke with that line of cases.
"My involvement in this whole line of cases is to try to get compensation for the victims," he said.
But another line of cases gives the states more leeway when they themselves are providing goods or services as a public function.
Yesterday's ruling is the latest in a line of cases that have insulated the states from legal challenge and whittled away at federal power.
As the Supreme Court recognized in its one-person, one-vote line of cases, the interests of the voters in a fair and democratic process must be paramount.
We reject his claim of presumptive unconstitutionality, however; to do otherwise would extend the Lukumi line of cases well beyond not only their facts, but their reasoning.
My hope is that this line of cases will somehow reconnect the law with everyday life - to the extent that is possible.
But few legal analysts expect him to vote to undo a line of cases in which the Supreme Court in recent years has curbed Congressional authority.
One line of cases says the key issue is whether a confusing ballot probably affected the outcome of an election; if it did, the election must be rerun.
