In sports, from time to time, an underdog will defeat a team that was heavily favored to win. As the saying goes, "It’s why they play the game." If the favorite always defeated the underdog, there would be little reason to have the game occur on the field, the hardwood floor or the ice.
Similarly, on occasion, the outcome of an appeal will differ from what most would have predicted in advance. Only months ago, many were very surprised when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined with the four more liberal members of the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare. And early this year, the news media and court observers viewed it as noteworthy when Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, a Republican, joined with the three Democratic members of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to invalidate Pennsylvania’s legislative redistricting maps.
