(CNN) -- Like everyone else who listened to the arguments at the Supreme Court last week, I have no crystal ball for predicting whether the justices will uphold or strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But it seemed clear to me, as it did to most observers, that the court's five Republican appointees are leaning toward invalidating the act's minimum coverage provision, the "mandate" provision that requires most Americans to acquire health insurance by January 2014. This was somewhat surprising. Even more surprising, though, was that several of the justices also seemed inclined to strike down the entire law, all 2,700 pages of it.
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Bradley Joondeph: No one can predict how Supreme Court will rule on health care law
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He says there were indications that some justices would throw out entire law
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Joondeph: Throwing out hugely important law, in midst of campaign, would be a big risk
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He says a decision widely viewed as political could threaten court's stature
For if @placeholder see the court as no more than another partisan body, the justices' capacity to persuade persons of diverse ideological hues will be lost.