The issue focused on concern about whether Mr. Justice Anthony Kennedy was likely to vote with the court's liberal justices in rulings that could legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.

After Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, Justice Scalia sat next to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor at a Supreme Court lunch and spoke out against judicial activism. Justice Scalia also joined Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for an argument before the court last month in which he argued that federal laws banning flag burning should