He Did it Again: Chief Justice John Robert and the Triumph of Real Justice in the American Supreme Court.

Last week, it was LGBT. Today, it is DACA. Your under-age kids who are in America illegally are no longer subject to deportation or excluded from the path of the American Dream.

A few years ago, I told you that Chief Justice Roberts, though appointed to the Supreme Court by a Republican President, is going to save the Bench and uphold the integrity and fundamental values of the then ideologically polarized Supreme Court. More than five landmark decisions later, I cannot be more right. After analyzing all the five conservative members of the apex court, my instinct told me that Chief Justice John Roberts is not going to preside over a Supreme Court whose decisions are easily predicted simply on political or ideological leaning. I took a gamble and I documented my thoughts. So far so good, he has done more than I anticipated.

Alex Ehimhantie-Aiyo Aidaghese

October 8, 2018

Chief Justice John G Roberts: Saving the Integrity of the U.S. Supreme Court Amidst the Suffocating Voices of Conservative Jurists at the Apex Court.

Now that the American apex court is parked full with a convincing conservative majority following the addition of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the bench, conservative ideologically biased decisions are assured. Republicans are celebrating, while liberal voices and progressive interest groups are in a grief mode. And it's understandable.

But is that the kind of a Supreme Court - one whose decision is easily predictable - that Chief Justice Robert is comfortable presiding over? I don't think so.

Justice David H Souter was appointed by President George Bush elder (a Republican) in 1990. But the appointment didn't yield the expected dividends. Republicans were inadvertently sold a dummy.

Justice David Souter, a conservative thinking jurist, became an ideological centrist - a swing voter throughout his years at the apex court. Thereby making it difficult for litigants and legal scholars to predict the outcome of most cases before the apex court.

Today, Roe v Wade is on the line. Affirmative Action is always on the line. And same-sex marriage may be resurrected. But who will play Justice David Souter to ensure purposeful justice in the one body whose decisions are unassailable - next only to God? That is the question.

Do not expect Justice Samuel Alito to ever wear a neutral gown. He was once videotaped shaking his head, whispering "not true" while President Obama was making a State of the Union Address.

Count Uncle Clarence Thomas out. He is the heir apparent to the late extreme right constitutionalist, Justice Antonin Scalia's throne at the apex court. Besides, his resentment of populist and minority favored policies are well documented.

And Justice Neil Gorsuch? He is Donald Trump's apologist. Therefore, he is easily eliminated.

So, who is the emerging candidate for the role of ideological centrality within the conservative supermajority corner at the U.S. Supreme Court?

And the answer is in the hands of the gentleman who bears the cross: Chief Justice John G Robert. I arrived at this conclusion for two major reasons.

One. As a genuine (unpretentious) gentleman, an outstanding jurist and a family man to boot, I can see him adopting informed reasoning, recognized in-laws and ethics to sustain the prestige, integrity, dignity, and reputations of the custodian of the last hope of the aggrieved - his Supreme Court - by voting not just his conscience, but guided by facts, fundamental principles of fairness, the applicable laws, and the overall circumstances surrounding the case. He cannot afford to do less.

And two, his two decisions in the Obama Affordable Healthcare Law that came before the court, provoked a disturbing disbelief within the Republicans and conservative intelligentsia circle. First, he rejected the constitutional challenges to the Act. And in the second case, he ruled in favor of tax subsidies for the Affordable Healthcare Laws. In fact, he wrote the majority decision in one of the cases. Unpredictable outcomes, no doubt.

In light of these decisions, I have cause to hope that when push comes to shove, Chief Justice John G Roberts, will vote his conscience, the laws and the facts, without resorting to political correctness and ideological cum legal mumble jumble to circumvent justice, with a view to appeasing the far Rights. It won't. And I pray.

The confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh puts the US Supreme Court firmly on conservative terrain and Chief Justice John Roberts at a personal crossroads.

CNN.COM

How John Roberts will manage the Supreme Court's conservative majority

The confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh puts the US Supreme Court firmly on conservative terrain and Chief Justice John Roberts at a personal crossroads.

The confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh puts the US Supreme Court firmly on conservative terrain and Chief Justice John Roberts at a personal crossroads.