My guess is that it was 5-4 with Gorsuch and Barrett joining the liberals. I can't see Alito departing from the hang-'em-high mentality.
I agree with the ruling entirely and am not surprised by any justice's position.
This is actually the kind of case I would have thought we'd come relatively close to a unanimous court (maybe a lonely dissent from Alito/Thomas). I'm actually surprised Roberts and Kavanaugh dissented here, as they are both strong pro-religion judges, and of the judges in the majority, I'd bet neither Gorsuch nor Coney Barrett were actually opposed to letting the execution go ahead, just to not having the pastor in the execution chamber.
Robert’s and Kavanaugh are two
very strong law and order types, along with Alito.
Gorsuch, along with Thomas
some of the time have seemed to be the most likely to deviate from that orthodoxy; in that regard this case primarily splits more like a criminal justice case than a religious one.
There are some reasons to believe Barrett might also fall into the latter basket, though given the religious conflating element here there shouldn’t be any extrapolation from this case. (As I’ve said elsewhere, less of Barrett’s jurisprudential style was known/guessable when she was nominated than pretty much every other nominee this century, so there’s still a lot to be seen).
