>>> conservatives are who are angry over supreme court justice john roberts decision to uphold the health care law . some liberals contend that roberts ' surprise crossover on the health care law has given him a free hand to craft and sign on to a slew of conservative opinions next year without suffering much of a public drubbing. in one major case roberts may have inoculated himself and the court against charges of partisanship. end quote. pete williams joins us now following all the breaks news over the last couple of weeks. pete, good to see you.
>> richard, good to see you.
>> as you know, there are quite a few blockbuster cases. affirmative action . same-sex marriage, voter i.d. laws and the health care act. what are the ideas that we mentioned coming out of politico, that roberts ' decision on those may allow him to go the other way.
>> i'll leave the psycho analyzing to others as to why the chief justice did what he did on the health care law . the fact is, there are a number of cases that's going to make it as big as this one. affirmative action , nine years ago, the supreme court said colleges could consider race in judging a student's application. that case will be before the supreme court again this coming term. and the lineup of the court has changed. sandra day o'connor was a key vote when the supreme court upheld affirmative action . she's gone. replaced by samuel alito . who takes a dimmer view on affirmative action . and the chief justice said the way to avoid makes decisions is to make avoid making a decision on race. three years ago, the supreme court came that close to striking down a major part of a voting rights act that said states with a history of discrimination have to get permission from the federal court before they make any changes in any voting procedures. that one is hanging by a thread . and the supreme court will look at it again. then another big issue before the court is the gay rights . this in the guise of defense of marriage act . the law signed by president clinton which says for federal purposes marriage can only be before a man and a woman. just yesterday, the justice department asked the court to take the case. last friday, republicans asked the court to take a case from the northeast involving a challenge in which a federal appeals court struck it down. said it was unconstitutional. right there, richard, you have the makings of another blockbuster case. the supreme court is by no means shying away from controversy.
>> you would be a busy man in front of the supreme court .
>> i hope so.
>> before we let you go, pete, there's been rumblings about other elements on the health care act that might be challenged not including the mandate?
>> well, sure. there will be other -- you know, what we just went through was a challenge to the law overall. undoubtedly, we're going to see smaller, more surgical attempts to get pieces of health care law struck down. whatever those are, i can guarantee you they're not going to be have the supreme court .
>> tyeoman's work over the last few weeks. pete williams , thanks.
>> richard, good to see you.
>> as you know, there are quite a few blockbuster cases. affirmative action . same-sex marriage, voter i.d. laws and the health care act. what are the ideas that we mentioned coming out of politico, that roberts ' decision on those may allow him to go the other way.
>> i'll leave the psycho analyzing to others as to why the chief justice did what he did on the health care law . the fact is, there are a number of cases that's going to make it as big as this one. affirmative action , nine years ago, the supreme court said colleges could consider race in judging a student's application. that case will be before the supreme court again this coming term. and the lineup of the court has changed. sandra day o'connor was a key vote when the supreme court upheld affirmative action . she's gone. replaced by samuel alito . who takes a dimmer view on affirmative action . and the chief justice said the way to avoid makes decisions is to make avoid making a decision on race. three years ago, the supreme court came that close to striking down a major part of a voting rights act that said states with a history of discrimination have to get permission from the federal court before they make any changes in any voting procedures. that one is hanging by a thread . and the supreme court will look at it again. then another big issue before the court is the gay rights . this in the guise of defense of marriage act . the law signed by president clinton which says for federal purposes marriage can only be before a man and a woman. just yesterday, the justice department asked the court to take the case. last friday, republicans asked the court to take a case from the northeast involving a challenge in which a federal appeals court struck it down. said it was unconstitutional. right there, richard, you have the makings of another blockbuster case. the supreme court is by no means shying away from controversy.
>> you would be a busy man in front of the supreme court .
>> i hope so.
>> before we let you go, pete, there's been rumblings about other elements on the health care act that might be challenged not including the mandate?
>> well, sure. there will be other -- you know, what we just went through was a challenge to the law overall. undoubtedly, we're going to see smaller, more surgical attempts to get pieces of health care law struck down. whatever those are, i can guarantee you they're not going to be have the supreme court .
>> tyeoman's work over the last few weeks. pete williams , thanks.