Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

RandySF

(59,345 posts)
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 01:38 PM Jun 2012

Did Roberts switch his vote?

Scalia’s dissent, at least on first quick perusal, reads like it was originally written as a majority opinion http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2012/06/evidence-that-the-votes-shifted-after-conference-initial-vote-to-declare-mandate-unconstitutional.html (in particular, he consistently refers to Justice Ginsburg’s opinion as “The Dissent”). Back in May, there were rumors floating around relevant legal circles that a key vote was taking place, and that Roberts was feeling tremendous pressure from unidentified circles to vote to uphold the mandate. Did Roberts originally vote to invalidate the mandate on commerce clause grounds, and to invalidate the Medicaid expansion, and then decide later to accept the tax argument and essentially rewrite the Medicaid expansion (which, as I noted, citing Jonathan Cohn, was the sleeper issue in this case) to preserve it? If so, was he responding to the heat from President Obama and others, preemptively threatening to delegitimize the Court if it invalidated the ACA? The dissent, along with the surprising way that Roberts chose to uphold both the mandate and the Medicaid expansion, will inevitably feed the rumor mill.



http://www.volokh.com/2012/06/28/was-scalias-dissent-originally-a-majority-opinion/

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

Kber

(5,043 posts)
1. Would make more sense if the decision was 5-4
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 01:44 PM
Jun 2012

Roberts vote wasn't necessary to put it over the top - only to make it look less controversial.

onenote

(42,778 posts)
2. Wouldn't be the first time. And the reference to Ginsburg's "dissent" is accurate
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 01:52 PM
Jun 2012

Despite the fact that some here at DU swore up and down that the case was decided in the first conference vote conducted after the oral argument, the reality is that hammering out a majority in a case like this is often a process that evolves over time). I have no way of knowing whether that is what went on here. I do know that the fact that Scalia refers to Ginsburg's opinion as the "dissent" isn't a giveaway at all. The portion of Ginsburg's opinion that he is referring to IS a dissent -- a dissent on the issue of whether the individual mandate should be upheld under the Commerce Clause. Ginsburg's opinion concurred in the judgment, and concurred and dissented in part from Roberts' opinion.

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
3. The only body that could pressure the Supreme Court is the Senate
Thu Jun 28, 2012, 01:57 PM
Jun 2012

Presidents come and go.

The Chief Justice has tenure for life.

The Senate hangs on forever, and it approves new justices.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Did Roberts switch his vo...