article_snippet.sent: I would not tar the political branches with the brush of bigotry," John Roberts wrote.
article_snippet.sent: Schaeffer said the chief justice could have simply chosen to remain silent on an issue that wasn't before the court.
article_snippet.sent: On the first day of the term last fall, the court was presented with seven different petitions on an issue that wasn't before the court.
article_snippet.sent: Conventional wisdom was that the justices would garner the four necessary votes and grant one of the cases.
article_snippet.sent: the court's vote count in such decisions is kept a secret and may never be known.
article_snippet.sent: But some speculate on one possible scenario: John Roberts chose not to provide the fourth vote to the conservatives who dissented in Windsor.
article_snippet.sent: Then again, even if the speculation were true, the speculation doesn't reveal much about John Roberts thinking.
article_snippet.sent: There's a big difference between voting not to take up a case, which expresses no opinions on the merits, and issuing an opinion on the merits.