Excerpt:
For those who are currently playing the game of who-is-the-Supreme-Court-leaker, here’s an intriguing clue. A few blogs have picked up the following tweet from Bart Gellman of Time Magazine on June 2:
Barton Gellman @bartongellman
Ponnuru: inside sources at Supreme Court (really?) tell me the initial vote was 5-4 against Obamacare, but Roberts since turned wobbly. 2 Jun 12
*snip*
I poked around and found the audio of Ponnuru’s comment. Here’s the context.
On the morning of June 2, 2012, a panel presentation was held at Princeton University’s Reunions on the topic of Presidential politics. During the panel, the moderator asked the panelists how they thought the Supreme Court would rule in the Health Care cases. Here was the answer of National Review Senior Editor Ramesh Ponnuru ’95:
My own sort of educated guess, based on people I talk to at the Supreme Court, is that — Well, as I’m sure people know, there’s an initial vote the same week, on the Friday of the oral arguments. And my understanding is that there was a 5-4 vote to strike down the mandate and maybe some related provisions but not the entire act. Since then, interestingly, there seem to have been some second thoughts. Not on the part of Justice Kennedy, but on the part of Chief Justice Roberts, who seems to be going a little bit wobbly. So right now, I would say, [the outcome of the case] is a little bit up in the air….
You can hear the audio from the panel here; Ramesh’s comment starts at the 38:45 point..
We don’t know if the person who leaked to Ramesh Ponnuru also leaked to Jan Crawford. But either way, the crowd that might leak to Ramesh Ponnuru for a small audience during the course of deliberations is likely to be a considerably smaller group than the crowd that might leak to Jan Cranford for a big CBS News story after the case was handed down.
UPDATE: To clarify what I’m thinking above, I think Ponnuru’s comments tend to point in the direction of conservative clerks.
To be clear, this is all just speculation: I don’t have any inside story and I’m just reading what I find on the web. But as surprising as it was for Ramesh to say that he had “people he talks to at the Supreme Court,” it seems pretty much inconceivable that a writer would so casually disclose a contact with a United States Supreme Court Justice. Plus, the circles of conservative law clerks and National Review writers have considerably more contacts and overlaps than Justices and National Review writers.
Finally, I’ve been persuaded by speaking to a number of informed people that clerk leaks are more likely and have in the past led to less punishment than I would have thought. Anyway, sorry this is so vague and uncertain. But that’s my thinking.
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If true, he should RESIGN in shame!
Put no trust in princes, in children of Adam powerless to save
Do Supreme Court Justices ever over-rule themselves?
I keep hoping Roberts went to Malta for a spine transplant and somehow this was all just one giant mistake.
That reaction is completely foreign to me. Anyone who tries to bully or intimidate me isn't going to get MORE of what they want but LESS. Otherwise they'll NEVER stop doing it, plus how are you supposed to have any self-respect?
“Attack we much.”
If O wins he will get to place 3 more.
IMPEACH JOHN ROBERTS. Coward, supporter of fascists, and refuser to defend the Constitution.
He is a traitor to the People.So is/was Souter. Can the both of the ba$tards.
We're told that the "Conservatives" on the Court spent months trying to get him to come back to his original position.
He's a Supreme Court Chief Justice. The Constitution takes care of him for the rest of his life.
In my opinion, the pressure had to be much much stronger. I suspect some deep, dark personal issue that the liberals knew about and Roberts didn't want revealed.
Some secret that would remove him from his position.
Please correct me if I am wrong, somebody, but doesn’t the current power of the SC far outweigh what the Founders intended?
People with this sort of power are 1) NOT elected 2) Appointed by ONE person, and 3) Appointed for LIFE!
Does anybody think this is a sane arrangement, likely to result in a well-governed nation?
Efforts to rein this in will likely be futile, but after the upcoming SHTF, those attempting to fashion the next Constitution - if there’s enough left to call it a nation - might consider a better approach.
This is of course huge, as it undermines even the pretense of political fairness & honesty of the Federal court. It also high lights the Chicago stile bullying of the Obama Administration effectively dismantling what is left of our Federal republican system.
At least we now know how our republic died.
Ya' think? See B.S. ia real mental powerhouse.
While it is certainly possible that Ponnuru could be gossiping with a Justice it is more likely I think that he is talking to a clerk.
I would hope that a Justice would not be breaking seal of confidence in the courts deliberations.
We are at war.
One side seeks to adhere to the Constitution.
One side seeks to ignore and defy it.
There is no compromise.
We have need of a Chief Justice that openly declares war on the enemies of the constitution and stands up to communist bullies in the White House and the Senate, as required by “separation of powers”.
I know French people with more fight in them than Benedict Roberts. FUJR. FU.
the story behind his two ADOPTED children from Ireland via LATIN AMERICA is why I believe he is being threatened.....nothing else makes any sense.
“The most detailed leaks came in a CBS News report over the weekend, suggesting that Chief Justice John Roberts may have switched sides in the high-profile case in part to insulate the court and his own legacy as chief justice from election-year criticism should the court strike down the massive reform law.”
This makes no sense whatsoever. It’s downright STUPID.
Look to old fashioned Chitown thuggery for the answer in this case.
Kinda reminds me of POW photos North Vietnam published that showed a group of smiling POW's where several of the POW's were giving the finger to the camera.
While NV paraded this as proof of their humane treatment, some POW's figured out a subtle way to show otherwise as the NV had no idea what that gesture was.
Was Robert's written decision a way of giving the finger to the administration?
He either chickened out and/or was blackmailed.
I don’t agree with the CJ’s decision, or reasoning, but I do know that Obama, Reid and Pelousy can’t be happy with a new Tax hung around their necks.
FWIW...it’s almost impossible today to attain any meaningful position inside the Beltway if there is not a “lever” THEY can use on you when they need to., it’s why Palin was sent packing back to Alaska. It’s why we now have a RinoCracy.
Justice Roberts is a traitor, a liar, and every bit as deceptive and dubious as the dark one he follows.