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Posted on 07/10/2012 5:19:26 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
The upshot is that Chief Justice Roberts has become a "swing" justice on the Supreme Court—along with Justice Kennedy, who has occupied the swing position held by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor until she was replaced by conservative Justice Samuel Alito in 2006. The court now is composed of three solid conservatives and four solid liberals, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy leaning conservative.
Even that mixture makes the current court the most conservative in nearly a century. But it also means that the replacement of a single conservative justice by President Obama in a second term would turn the court sharply to the left.
The ObamaCare ruling highlights the stakes. Chief Justice Roberts joined the liberal justices in finding that the penalty imposed on individuals who refuse to sign up for government-prescribed health insurance is a permissible tax. But he sided with his fellow conservatives in holding that the mandate to buy insurance itself exceeded Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. Inactivity, the court held, is not commerce.
By contrast, the liberal justices argued that anything that even indirectly affects commerce (which amounts to everything) can be regulated. With the replacement of one conservative justice by a liberal, congressional power under the Constitution's Commerce Clause will be boundless.
By holding the line in June, then, the conservative majority ensured, at least for now, that the power of the national government remains limited. That portion of the health-care decision continues an important trend in which the court has set boundaries on federal regulatory power that had been erased during the New Deal.
Over the past two decades of its conservative majority, in fact, the court has reined in government power and protected important individual rights in a number of areas, almost always in 5-4 votes divided along conservative/liberal lines.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
This is one of the five most important issues at stake in this year’s election. Whoever wins the Presidency in 2012 will appoint at least two Supreme Court justices.
I wonder what will happen when those who use the Supreme Court as the stick to force compliance actually see Romney’s record in selecting judges. I hope that I am wrong, but I suspect a Roberts is the best we can do under Romney.
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Anyone hoping that Romney would appoint constitutionalists is probably expecting too much. While his picks would probably be more along the lines of Souter instead of Kagan or Sotomayor, they will inevitably vote with the left.
I would love to be wrong. I would love for him to win and get a Black, young, female equivalent of Thomas on the court and another Alito.
It will be very hard for Romney to betray the base on a Sup Court pick, especially if an opening were to occur in his first term.
Who knows what someone will do once safely on the Sup Court for life, but there are simply too many good conservative judges with a record of conservative jurisprudence for Romney to risk going with a lesser known entity. The base revolted against Bush over Harriet Miers, and Bush was considered (wrongly in many ways) to be a conservative. With Romney, there is no presumption of conservatism, so the base will not take his word for it on a Sup Court pick.
For me, this has to be one area where Romeny doesn’t disappoint. If he wins, then no matter what happens in the Senate he must be willing to nominate and fight for conservative judges.
What a pantload! Here comes the WSJ to prop up their favorite RINO. Be sure to vote for Willard beccause only HE will preserve the conservative balance of the scotus!
Just like Sandra Oconnor under Reagan.
Just like David Souter under Geo. Bush I
Just like John Roberts under Geo. Bush II
This is a suckers game any way you cut it. And ask yourself: why should we always be sitting on the edges of our seats waiting for the latest words of wisdom from 9 unelected politicians?
” - - - Whoever wins the Presidency in 2012 will appoint at least two Supreme Court justices.”
Maybe if Romney wins Traitor John Roberts might make it three?
“If he wins, then no matter what happens in the Senate he must be willing to nominate and fight for conservative judges.”
I hope you are right.
It seems like Republican Presidents have an awful history of picking sleeper progressives even when they try to make the right pick.
Justice Janice Rogers Brown
“Justice Janice Rogers Brown”
Yes. I have been following her for a while.
no, No, NO, N.O. The Court held no such thing.
The author does not understand the difference between a) "Chief Justice John Roberts concluded" and b) "Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court." A & B are two totally different things.
'A' means Chief Justice Roberts opined (suggested, mused, theorized)
'B' means that the Court held (ruled, judged, decided)
With respect to the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the Commerce clause and the Necessary and Proper clause, Chief Justice Roberts suggested that because inactivity is not commerce, the individual mandate is unconstitutional. None (zero, zip, zilch, nada) of the other justices agreed with him. Therefore, Roberts did not deliver the opinion of the Court.
With respect to the constitutionality of the individual mandate under Congress' taxing powers, a majority of the justices (Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, & Kagan) agreed that the individual mandate's penalty is a tax and is constitutional. Therefore, Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court.
That's because none of the other justices (zero, zip, zilch, nada) discriminated between taxpayers and non-taxpayers.
Read, and learn: How Chief Justice Roberts Saved America
I’ve read your analysis. It’s crap, IMHO.
“It seems like Republican Presidents have an awful history of picking sleeper progressives even when they try to make the right pick.”
Because they are afraid to face a public PR fight with the Dems and the MSM. THE LAST REAL FIGHT FOR A CONSERVATIVE WAS BORK, AND WE SAW HOW THAT TURNED OUT. The Reps caved.
If the Rep gain control of the senate they may have only a 2 year window to get a conservative through anyway, by 2014 the electorate may turn against the Rep and give control back to the Dems.
“Because they are afraid to face a public PR fight with the Dems and the MSM. “
A lot of truth to this. Still, Bush nominate Roberts, who looked like a knock out. Surprise!
“THE LAST REAL FIGHT FOR A CONSERVATIVE WAS BORK, AND WE SAW HOW THAT TURNED OUT. The Reps caved.”
Thomas was a pretty good fight.
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