Edward White
American Center for Law and Justice
3/29/2012
…Now that oral argument has concluded, what does the Supreme Court do next in the ObamaCare case?…
…If Chief Justice Roberts is in the majority, he assigns the writing of the majority opinion to one of the Justices, including himself, who is in the majority. If Chief Justice Roberts is not in the majority, then whoever is the most senior Justice in the majority assigns the majority opinion, which again can be assigned to that same Justice.
Over the coming weeks, the Justices, with the assistance of their law clerks, will research and draft the various opinions that will comprise the decision of the Court, that is, the majority opinion, any concurring opinion(s), and any dissenting opinion(s). A concurring opinion is generally one in which a Justice(s) agrees with the outcome reached by the majority, but for a different reason. A dissenting opinion is one in which a Justice(s) disagrees with the outcome reached by the majority. Occasionally, no opinion is joined by at least five justices, in which case the opinion with the most votes is called a plurality opinion…
… The public is not made aware of any vote changes, just as the public is not made aware of the preliminary voting…
Read the complete article at ACLJ.
