How The Constitution Should Be Interpreted What Effect...

Q: What is the role of the Roberts Court in light of current conditions in the 21st century in deciding how the Constitution should be interpreted? What effect does their powerful decisions have on America? T: What role the court chooses for itself in the unfolding of history is sometimes more important than the facts of the particular case at hand. Their power is so great and influential in nearly every major issue of our time that any way they fall on an important decision directly influences the course of American history. Context: 2014- This is during a time of great political and social divide in American culture. The clear rift in political thought and hard-lined party divisions described as â€Å"left† and â€Å"right† are becoming more†¦show more content†¦consensus view (178), Federalism (76). FAS 1: A case that fully displays the power of the court and the justice’s intentional role they choose to play in making history is National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, a.k.a. the Health Care Case regarding Obamacare. It brought attention to the fundamental difference in how the justices define liberty and its relation to American federalism as well as their uncertainty about how to best move forward. The dissent made their decision based on a libertarian standpoint that defines liberty as the absence of government, ruling that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) impressed on economic liberty by issuing a mandate that would force people to buy health insurance. The majority opinion, on the other hand, was made from a progressive standpoint grounded in the belief that â€Å"government is not only capable of enhancing freedom; government is essential to freedom† (70) and has a responsibility to provide positive rights such as health care. Chief Justice Roberts, the deciding vote on the matter, â€Å"walked a libertarian-inflected middle ground† (72). Criticized for ignoring the facts of the case and in effect re-writing the statute, he saved the bill by construing it as a tax rather than a mandate, despite the fact that Obama had publicly insisted that it was indeed not a tax. This was a highly contested decision that will go down in history as one of the most influential acts of his tenure on