Chief Justice John Roberts is about to show his cards

Chief Justice John Roberts is about to show his cards

By Joan Biskupic, CNN

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/12/politics/chief-justice-john-roberts-supreme-court-june/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

"SNIP.....


Washington (CNN) — With a deadline for nearly 30 cases looming and weighty issues of religion, gerrymandering and the 2020 census pending,Chief Justice John Roberts took his black leather chair at the bench this week and said three decisions were ready to be announced.

It was a paltry total for a week in June, the final month of the annual session. What's more, two of the three were by unanimous votes and none made big headlines.

But the term won't end this way. And much of the weight of this momentous session is on Roberts' shoulders.

This is the first time in Roberts' 14 years as chief justice that he will likely be the deciding vote on several final, tense cases -- a total of 24 over the next two weeks. Roberts landed in the ideological center of the court last year when Justice Anthony Kennedy retired after a three-decade tenure. And because Roberts has long been to the right of centrist conservative Kennedy, the court is primed to make a sharp conservative turn.


.....SNIP"