The U.S. Supreme Court heard nine cases this month covering a vast field of federal law, from a dispute over Environmental Protection Agency discharge permits to the scope of a major antiracketeering statute.

Again and again, however, it was the liberal wing of the court—not the avowedly “textualist” conservative justices—often trying to steer the conversation back to the words of the statutes before them, and away from whichever outcome might produce better policy.