The state supreme court is split three to three between Democrats and Republicans (a fourth Republican judge was suspended after using public funds on her campaign). Thus four votes are needed to overturn the lower court’s decision. The Democratic judges spoke frequently and asked pointed questions of the state. The Republicans judges, with the occasional exception of Saylor, said almost nothing. Chief Justice Ronald Castille, who overturned the GOP’s redistricting plans and is thought to be the swing justice on the court, stayed mostly silent and appeared irritated, at times, with the outspoken Democrats. “We got three votes but that doesn’t help us,” Vic Walczak, legal director for the Pennsylvania ACLU, told me after the hearing. “We need a fourth.”