Al Franken actually said...

one of the glorious things about courts is they provide a level playing field in all circumstances.

Justice Marshall wasn't some activist radical, rather, his views were very much in the mainstream.

the court should show 'special solicitude for the despised and disadvantaged, the people who went unprotected by every other organ of govern...

I think that in these cases the Supreme Court was legislating from the bench, which is being activist.