Roberts' vote shows independent streak

WASHINGTON -- With a single vote backing President Barack Obama's health care law, Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts asserted his independence and defused charges that partisanship rules the Supreme Court.

Roberts joined four Democratic-selected justices to uphold the biggest change to the U.S. medical system in a half-century. The law, almost universally rejected by Republicans, is designed to expand insurance to at least 30 million Americans.

The ruling injects nuance into the legacy of a chief justice appointed by President George W. Bush and who has led the court's conservative wing in supporting gun rights, overturning campaign-finance restrictions and limiting racial preferences. It came three days after Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy joined liberal justices in striking down most of an Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigrants.

"It would appear that he has put the prestige of the court and the institutional image of the court as nonpartisan above his ideological values," said James F. Simon, the former dean of New York Law School and the author of six books about the Supreme Court, referring to the health care law.

For Roberts, who worked in president Ronald Reagan's administration and whose 2005 nomination then-Sen. Obama opposed, the decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act almost certainly cut against his political and policy instincts.

In his almost seven years as chief justice, Roberts has been an anchor of the court's conservative wing. He also led the court when it allowed federal abortion restrictions and limited class-action lawsuits.

"The health care act case gave him an opportunity to detach himself from his 'conservative' colleagues and, because of his assignment power, write the opinion himself," said G. Edward White, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. "By doing so he looks like less of a partisan and more of a statesman."

During his confirmation hearing, Roberts assured Democrats he would have "no agenda" as chief justice, and that "I prefer to be known as a modest judge." He likened the job to being a baseball umpire calling balls and strikes.