Where Justices Fail, Voters Can Step In

Where Justices Fail, Voters Can Step In

Today, when the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate as an exercise of the taxing power, Chief Justice Roberts’s political acumen and self-proclaimed “judicial minimalism” was on full display. During his confirmation hearing, Roberts famously described his view of justices as “umpires” who should “call balls and strikes.” Today, however, Roberts missed a wild pitch.

The Chief Justice thought he was giving something to both sides. By fully endorsing the argument that Congress cannot compel commerce in order to regulate it, and even bringing up the fabled possibility of a “broccoli mandate,” defenders of strict limits on the Commerce...