Is SCOTUS Chief Justice Leaning Left?

A decade into his tenure, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is sticking to his stated goal of analyzing every case based on the law, not politics – which has led to him to fall in line with his liberal colleagues on occasion, writes Brianne J. Gorod in The New Republic,. This week, Roberts wrote a decision that allowed Florida’s ban on judicial candidates personally soliciting campaign funds to stand under the First Amendment, writing that a state “may assure its people that judges will apply the law without fear or favor – and without having personally asked anyone for money.” Add that surprise move to his swing vote that upheld the Affordable Care Act, his being the sole conservative vote to agree to expand rights for pregnant workers, and a statement during this week’s gay marriage debate in which Roberts said the lawsuit appeared to present “a straightforward question of sexual discrimination,” and you have a live wire who is keeping Court observers on their toes.