John Roberts Shows Cold-Blooded Calculation In His Supreme Court Rulings

[flamingdem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/supreme-court-doma_n_3434870.html?ref=topbar


Roberts may have wanted to be cautious initially, but his eyes grew wide when presented with the Citizens United case. In 2010, he led the court to declare that corporations, like individuals, have free speech rights that bar the government from limiting what they spend independently on campaigns and elections.

The reaction was swift -- and negative.

"I think the chief justice was taken aback a bit," said Ornstein. "I don't think he expected as much criticism as he got."

So even as the court sought ways to limit federal regulation of business and markets, Roberts boldly created a majority to uphold the central provision of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act in the midst of the 2012 campaign.

Court observers figured -- rightly as it turned out -- that Roberts would balance that move with the one he made on Tuesday: writing the opinion that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act and essentially freed the Republican-dominated South from the last vestiges of federal control of the region's election laws.

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Having substantially weakened federal spending limits on elections, the Roberts Court's next move may be to end contribution limits to political parties and candidates' campaigns.