Polarized Court Damages Own Legacy

Wall St Journal: Overturning ObamaCare wouldn't make him 'activist'

(NEWSER) - The Wall Street Journal 's editorial page thinks liberals are trying to "intimidate" the Supreme Court's justices, especially Chief Justice John Roberts, as the ruling on ObamaCare draws near. Those who support the law, including the "elite liberal press," have made clear they will try to ruin Roberts' legacy by depicting him as a judicial "activist" if he and his court overturn it. More»

Or at least, with parts of it

(NEWSER) - Today the Supreme Court heard the final arguments in the case over Arizona's controversial immigration law, and it's not looking good for the Obama administration. Justices seemed decidedly skeptical about the Justice Department's central argument that the law impinged on the federal government's power to control immigration, the Washington Post reports. "What could possibly be wrong," John Roberts asked, with having police check detainees' immigration status, and pass the information to the federal government? More»

Supreme Court could well strike down controversial law

(NEWSER) - Yesterday's oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court went well for opponents of President Obama's health care law. "The government had in my view as bad a day as it reasonably could," the founder of SCOTUSblog says. "It won't cause the government to have a complete cardiac arrest—they'll just be nauseous for months." But here's what Politico is taking out of the proceedings, as today's final arguments loom:

• It's Roberts or Kennedy: If Obama's going to get a fifth vote, it's going to be from John Roberts or Anthony Kennedy—and both sounded skeptical of the individual mandate yesterday.

Obama administration had argued that tracking cars didn't constitute a search

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that the government must obtain a warrant before secretly affixing a GPS tracking device to a suspect's car. The case stemmed from an incident in which the FBI placed a tracker on a DC drug dealer's car, with the Obama administration arguing that Americans don't have a right to privacy while moving in public, Wired explains. The administration told the justices that it could track their cars as well if it wanted. More»

Chief justice says Supreme Court peers can't withdraw

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court's chief justice yesterday defended the right of his fellow justices to rule on Obamacare, the New York Times reports. John G. Roberts didn't mention justices Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan by name, but both are facing calls to withdraw from the ruling because of their past interest in the health care program. The issue, as Roberts sees it, is that Supreme Court justices are too far up the legal totem pole to be judged or replaced. More»