Scalia: No post-ACA rift among jurists

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WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed reports of rifts arising from the recent healthcare ruling, saying he found such discussions offensive.

"We are not a political institution," Scalia said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with CNN. "I don't think any of my colleagues on any cases vote the way they do for political reasons."

Chief Justice John Roberts, tapped by President George W. Bush, sided with liberal members of the court when he wrote the 5-4 majority opinion that upheld the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature healthcare legislation. Scalia was on the losing side.

While not specifically discussing the healthcare decision -- or any other recent or current case issues -- or the court's deliberations on the Affordable Care Act, the conservative Scalia downplayed media reports of fallout from conservative and liberal members over the decision.

Scalia, nominated by President Reagan, told CNN he was dismayed at criticism heaped on Roberts, intimating that the person or persons who leaked information about the justices' deliberation on the healthcare law didn't have the whole picture.