Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has retired, stepping down from the nation’s highest court on Friday.
While Alito may not have been a household name to many Americans outside of legal and political circles, his influence on the direction of the Supreme Court was substantial. He was a driving force behind the court’s conservative majority on numerous high-profile issues.
Alito is perhaps best known for writing the majority opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, the long-standing precedent that had established a constitutional right to abortion. That decision sent shockwaves across the country and reignited intense national debate over reproductive rights.
Beyond abortion, Alito consistently led the charge on a broad spectrum of conservative legal positions throughout his tenure on the bench.
