Did Justice Roberts Change His Vote?
Roberts switched his vote on Obamacare in May, according to CBS.
| Posted Sunday, July 1, 2012, at 2:20 PM
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly switched his vote on Obamacare in May, siding with liberals to uphold most of the health care reform law, according to CBS News.
Jan Crawford of CBS cited two sources on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, reporting that Roberts "switched sides," adding, "there was a one-month campaign to bring Roberts back into the conservative fold, led, ironically, by Anthony Kennedy.” Kennedy was originally believed to be the swing vote in play in the health care decision.
As Politico has previously noted, speculation that the conservative-leaning Roberts may have changed sides after the court's initial vote started pretty much right after the decision was announced. The best evidence for the switch was believed to be the opening language of the dissent. Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito voted in the minority against the constitutionality of the reform law's individual mandate.
On Friday, Roberts joked that he was headed to an "impregnable island fortress" to avoid questions about his decision, the Christian Science Monitor notes.
