Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) — Speaking in September to law students in Nebraska, Chief Justice John Roberts said the U.S. Supreme Court needs to avoid the partisan rancor that has enveloped the other two branches of government.

"I don't want it to spill over and affect us," he said. "That's not the way we do business. We're not Democrats or Republicans in how we go about it."

Now, for the second time since 2012, the nation's highest court will decide the fate of the most divisive issue in U.S. politics: Obamacare. And Roberts, the Republican appointee who cast the vote that saved the health care law two and a half years ago, is the focus of most of the attention.

That's because he joined four Democratic-appointed justices to reject the earlier challenge to Obamacare, dismaying conservatives amid a report that he switched sides late in the deliberations. The question is whether he'll back the law again.

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