US Politics Analysis: How Chief Justice Roberts Saved ObamaCare...and Gave the President an Election Problem

Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion has rewritten the dynamics of the upcoming Presidential election. With Obamacare being declared constitutional as a tax, the face-value victory for the Administration may well cost Obama the White House in November.

The law was already unpopular with many Americans who saw it as an unconstitutional infringement on their rights. A majority of the Court agreed with them, but the salvation of the Affordable Care Act is that it is a Federal tax.

So after the dozens of pages of legal opinion, a one-sentence question: can you imagine the political advantage Mitt Romney and Republicans will try to take from the President being forced to defend that new tax scheme?

Click to read more ...

US Feature: How the Supreme Court's Next Decisions Will Become Part of 2012 Politics

Against a background of a hotly-fought election, with some of the issues before the Court like immigration and health care reform sure to contribute to the ideological divide, “rambunctious” may prove to be an understatement of the nine months ahead.

Click to read more ...

Justice in America: A Decent Decision Defies the Supreme Court's Limpet-Like Ideology

In recent years, the US Supreme Court has taken a predictable course with right-wingers on the bench imposing their ideology, but Monday brought a notable change.

In a 5-4 ruling, the State of California was ordered to reduce its overcrowded prison population by 30,000. The ruling followed displays in court of photographs of inmates crowded into an open gymnasium-style rooms and “telephone-booth-sized cages without toilets".

In the 1980s, California imposed a "three strikes rule" for offenders. If you were found guilty of a third felony, there was an automatic sentence of 25 years, regardless of the nature of the offence. Sentencing discretion was removed from judges.

Click to read more ...