[JAKraig]

The oral arguments were recorded, he can still hear them or simply read the transcripts.

[Captain Jack Aubrey]

You would think that is how it would work, but it doesn’t. If the argued case ends in a 4-4 tie, it can be reargued with the new justice and decided 5-4.

[Dave W]

He is not going to vote cases if he was not there to hear the cases himself in person...meaning physically present in body. It is just not done and he is on record as telling Susan Collins that he believes in precedent even if the ruling is wrong, including Roe v. Wade.

This guy is not a raging conservative by any means, but at least the expectation is that he is a bit to the right of Kennedy.