Justice Roberts, Meet Justice Henry Billings Brown

And Justice Roger B. Taney (above).

This will be very, very brief.

When history records the judicial career of Supreme Court Justice Henry Billings Brown, it remembers only that he wrote the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson. You remember Plessy. You may not remember Brown.

When history records the judicial career of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, it remembers only that he wrote the majority opinion in Dredd Scott v. Sandford. You remember Dredd Scott. You may not remember Taney.

And now, when history records the judicial career of Chief Justice John Roberts, will it remember his vote on the Affordable Care Act. Or will it focus instead on his concurrence in Citizens United. Or will it focus on today's case, Shelby County, challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act?

I can only hope that before he makes a final decision on today's case, the Chief Justice will reflect on its significance, not just to the nation, but also to his legacy.