John Roberts Health Care Switch Sparks 'Deep' Supreme Court 'Discord': CBS News (VIDEO)

Roberts' Health Care Ruling Sparks 'Deep' Supreme Court Discord

More than a week removed from the Supreme Court's landmark health care ruling, a new report of dissension among the justices has emerged.

In a Sunday appearance on "Face The Nation," CBS News Chief Political and Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford provided new details about the aftermath of the 5-4 decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as constitutional.

"The discord is deep and it is personal," said Crawford on the broadcast. "This could affect this court for a long time."

Crawford reported last Sunday that Chief Justice John Roberts switched his vote after initially siding with the court's conservative justices to strike down the mandate.

In the court's majority opinion, Roberts wrote that the individual mandate "need not be read to do more than impose a tax," which falls under Congress' constitutional power to collect taxes.

"No one has any idea how it's going to be resolved but conservatives feel this sense of betrayal -- that Roberts changed his mind for the wrong reasons," Crawford said on "Face The Nation." "If he had been with the liberals from the beginning … that would have been one thing. But to have switched his position -- and relatively late in the process -- infuriated conservatives."

Crawford interviewed Justice Clarence Thomas in 2007, and she interviewed Justice Antonin Scalia at an event held by the conservative Federalist Society in 2010.

Before You Go

Jerrold Nadler

Political Reaction To Health Care Ruling

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot