SUNDAY SHOWS

O'Connor Not Surprised at Roberts Decision

Updated: August 5, 2012 | 11:55 a.m.
August 5, 2012 | 11:52 a.m.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Sunday said she wasn't surprised at Chief Justice John Roberts’s decision to uphold the federal health care law and added that she didn't know if he – as reported – switched his vote.

“I don't have any information about the initial, tentative votes taken at the Court conference,” she told CBS’s Face the Nation. “I have not pried into it. I have not asked to be informed. Obviously it was a close decision because at the end of the day it was 5-4, so at the time of first discussion it may well also have been a close decision. I expect it was. That was a hard case.”

But she doubted Roberts, pilloried by conservatives since, had signaled a new, centrist tack for himself.

“I don't, I don't see it at all,” O’Connor said. “I see it deciding a very sensitive case with political connotations.”

See all NJ’s Sunday show coverage | Get Sunday show coverage in your inbox

Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.


Leave A Comment
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus
Follow National Journal
Related Content
Expert Opinions
Energy Experts

What's at Stake with Natural-Gas Exports?

53 minutes ago

Latest Response by Tim Peckinpaugh: LNG Exports: Let the Market Decide

Education Experts

New Definition of Asperger's, Autism for Kids

53 minutes ago

Latest Response by Gina Burkhardt: To Label or Not to Label?

Energy Experts

What's at Stake with Natural-Gas Exports?

7:33 a.m.

Latest Response by Michael Schmidt: Debate is Microcosm of Energy Policy

More Expert Opinions »
Columns
Charlie Cook: Off to the Races

Republicans’ Hatred of Obama Blinds Them to Public Disinterest in Scandals

May 20, 2013
Republicans are so focused on their bitter battles against Obama, they can’t see how little impact the “scandals” have had on public opinion.
Charlie Cook: The Cook Report

Republicans Should Go Easy on Obama, At Least in Public

May 16, 2013
As a tactical matter, a subterranean campaign will score more direct hits on the president.
Ronald Brownstein: Political Connections

How the White House Scandals Could Hurt Republicans, Too

May 16, 2013
By enraging the base and strengthening the faction least willing to compromise with Obama, the IRS and Benghazi affairs could hurt a GOP shot at the presidency.
More Columns »