Atlantic: Chief Justice Roberts not likely to strike down gay marriage bans...

When Chief Justice John Roberts prepared to decide the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in 2012, he faced a moment of truth. In an interview for this magazine in 2007, he stressed the importance of maintaining the legitimacy of the Court by avoiding 5-4 decisions on party lines; now he had to decide whether to preside over a partisan divide in the most closely watched case of his tenure. In the end, Roberts made a brave decision to choose judicial legitimacy over ideological purity, casting a tie-breaking vote to uphold this Affordable Care Act.

By the end of June, Roberts will face two decisions that some commentators are viewing as yet another defining moment for his judicial legacy and his judicial soul. Once again, he has to decide whether to drive a stake into the heart of the Affordable Care Act, and he also must decide whether the Constitution requires states to recognize gay marriage. It’s become a parlor game to speculate whether or not he will be swayed by politics in the Obamacare and gay marriage cases. Will he vote with the conservative justices who oppose the Affordable Care Act and gay marriage on policy grounds or maintain his commitment to keeping the Court above partisan politics?

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