Stop asking if this is a repeat: Chief Justice John Roberts tries to make the law incomprehensible to placate left-wing activists.
This is the latest CNN leak stating that Roberts tried to persuade several conservative justices to affirm Roe HTML3_. This confirms the truth many had suspected. The saga went on for several months before the Dobbs decision was dropped, sending the abortion issue back to the States.
New CNN reporting from @JoanBiskupic: Chief Justice John Roberts privately lobbied his fellow conservative justices to preserve Roe v. Wade – but the unprecedented leak of the draft opinion may have doomed his efforts. pic.twitter.com/g0fKkIT14f
— New Day (@NewDay) July 26, 2022
Roberts is known for his long-standing tendency to ignore the legal aspects so that he can make the most controversial decisions in every case. Barack Obama was the most famous example. Officials from the Obama administration were steadfast in arguing that Affordable Care Act wasn’t a tax. They did this publicly as well as in court because it was politically convenient.
Yet Roberts was able to maintain the ACA by determining that was a Tax despite those who wrote it. This was one of the most bizarre Supreme Court decisions of modern history. A justice ignored the intended purpose of a piece legislation to create the minimum amount of public confusion, especially on the left. The ACA was generally unpopular at that time.
There were other instances, like Roberts joining liberals in an unsuccessful attempt to enforce unequally applied COVID limitations on prayer meetings. He voted to repeal a Louisiana law that required all abortion clinics to adhere to basic health standards. Roberts, in that instance, had cast another vote on the exact same question and claimed he was bound to precedent for a case he pointedly stated was wrongly decided.
You get the picture. Roberts is cowardly. He constantly shifts his standards to please the left because they fear that their outbursts will “delegitimize the court.” The Supreme Court is not there to placate public opinion. It exists to interpret and apply the law based upon its merits. Roberts’ concern about legitimacy seems to only go one way, which only makes matters worse.
But, it’s important to remember something about the CNN leak. It’s designed specifically to convince you that the Dobbs draft leaked was conservative. Notice the frame that Roberts might have been able to shift Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett if the leak hadn’t happened.
To be blunt, this is a laughable assertion. It was clear that no conservative justice knew it would lead to dangers to their lives or create chaos outside of their homes. The leak actually made it more difficult for those who voted to repeal Roe to stand firm.
Roberts wasn’t going to persuade Kavanaugh and Barrett to alter their votes. His absurd belief that Roe and Casey could be kept while the viability test was removed is nonsense. This would be completely against the law. But so what? Chief justice. Roberts might not be concerned about these details, but Kavanaugh or Barrett are.
In the end, the leak confirms the things I have said for many years. Roberts is simply terrible. This latest leak is an indication that Roberts’ influence has diminished. What is my response? Good.
