Social conservatives are increasingly skeptical that John Roberts will vote their way in the Proposition 8 and DOMA cases, and are ready to turn on him if he does not.
The Hill reports:
The conservatives were angered by Roberts’s surprise backing of President Obama’s healthcare law last year, and they don't want to see a similar surprise in the two marriage cases the court considered this week.
“I certainly think his credentials were tarnished with the ObamaCare decision,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “Does he care about his standing with conservatives? I don’t know.”
Gary Bauer, the president of American Values, agreed, saying that if Roberts doesn't vote with the other conservative justices “on another major issue … then I think the whole understanding of the current makeup of the Supreme Court would be in question."
Doug Patton, a conservative columnist, wondered on GOPUSA if Roberts will "betray us again," as he did with the Affordable Care Act: "As a direct result of Roberts's folly, the stark reality of Barack Obama's 'fundamental transformation of America' creeps closer each day ... Will Roberts do it again?"
Patton added: "Based on what I'm hearing from the justices — John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy in particular — I am not optimistic for the future of marriage in our nation."
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