Stoia added that in some cases, federal courts can get backed up as much as four or five years before they hand down a decision on a class-action case.

FORBES: Class-Action Law Gums Up Courts

It is, therefore, not at all uncommon for Justices to take a very contrary or aggressive approach in their questioning only to later hand down a decision that goes in a very different direction than what might have been reasonably anticipated based on the questioning session.

FORBES: Early SCOTUS Report: Individual Mandate May Be In Big Trouble

That raises the possibility that he will write a middling decision striking down preferences in the case at hand but leave open the possibility that they would pass muster under other circumstances.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: Racial Preferences Redux