The Rehnquist majority firmly wants to rein in congressional power and provide greater protection to the states. There is indeed a deep rift between those conservative justices and the liberals on the powers of the states and those of Washington. It's a fairly arcane and intellectual debate, but one that could have great consequence for federal rights and state protections. All nine of the justices take it very seriously, and the divisions between them appear not only in the heated language of their opinions but in the opinions they read for the bench. In a relatively quite, sedate, mild-mannered place, the dissenting justices effectively blew their top over the majority's bolstering of state sovereignty.
Deep pockets drive the legal environment.
Employers put big money into lawyers fighting against hiring disabled. People are impaired by the medications themselves. That last point, about how medications can help people who are disabled but do not end all the effects of their impairment, was made by several advocates for the disabled. My sense is that no one will retire before the 2000 election. First, they all seem healthy enough and content in the job, to various degrees.