As you say, “Justice Kennedy still sides with his more conservative bretheren most of the time.” For this reason, focusing on Justice Kennedy seems, to me, mistaken. The votes of the other liberals most often correlate to Souter; the votes of the other conservatives, including Kennedy as a conservative, most often correlate to Alito. Thus, this is the Souter-Alito Court, not the Kennedy Court. As the example of Clark v. Arizona illustrates, if one has Souter and Alito, one can obtain a viable majority without Kennedy.

Looking forward to the book.