July 09, 2012
In the Media
Roberts Rules: What the Health Care Decision Means for the
Country
By David Von Drehle
TIME
June 29, 2012
John Q. Barrett, a law professor at St. John’s University and
biographer of the late Justice Robert Jackson, a favorite Roberts
role model, dismissed the conspiracy theories. The ruling was a
classic example of a cautious Chief Justice at work, he said. “I
think that chiefs feel, for the public credibility and independence
of the court, that major legislation should not be struck down on a
5-to-4 vote on grounds that Congress lacks the power. It hasn’t
happened in the modern era — since the 1930s. John Roberts will
likely be Chief Justice for many, many more years, and it’s not
surprising to me that he wasn’t looking to define his court
stewardship with a radical decision. The opposite ruling would have
been a deeply, permanently controversial landmark.”