Order In The Court

Here's the first line from a Robert Barnes Washington Post think piece of the tenth year of the John Roberts Supreme Court:

The 10th edition of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. begins work Monday with the prospect of a monumental ruling for gay rights that could serve as a surprising legacy of an otherwise increasingly conservative court.

I hate that--saying something that's happening now (and usually something you don't like) is increasing in its intensity.  Is the Court getting more conservative?  Seems to me they've been relatively stable.  A razor-thin conservative majority that often goes right but hardly all the time.  Okay, maybe Alito made it a bit more conservative when he replaced Sandra Day O'Connor, but that was the year after Roberts was appointed.  And since then you've had Sotamayor replace David Souter, and Kagan replace John Paul Stevens, both cases making the Court arguably more liberal.

PS  I see the piece quotes my old prof David Strauss.  He seems to be promising that scholars will celebrate the Court if it supports same-sex marriage.