Supreme Court Issues Second Tied Ruling Since Death Of Justice Scalia
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The US Supreme Court issued its second 4-4 ruling since the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. The ruling marks a loss for conservatives, and could also be a veiled message from the court.
The one line opinion is simple -- it reads the decision is affirmed by an evenly divided court, which means the case is not decided at all. This makes Tuesday's ruling a major blow to conservatives bent on crippling the power of public unions.
"The liberals won by not losing basically," said Penn Law Professor and former Supreme Court Clerk Kermit Roosevelt.
He says the court has discretion on when to release decisions, so there is a question of whether Chief Justice John Roberts is sending a message to lawmakers about the realities of an eight-justice court.
"It is possible that there is some desire to send a signal by sending out this now to show that yes, it is really going to happen on these big important cases. We're not going to be able to decide them," said Roosevelt
The Supreme Court ruling in tied cases has no effect, and the cases will need to be reheard with a full court.
Roosevelt predicts more ties in major cases dealing with abortion and Obamacare, which could put more pressure on Senate Republicans to act on Obama nominee Merrick Garland.
