It's funny, most people's definition of an activist judge is mostly determined by whether they agree with the verdict or not.
Given that is how you think it is only natural for you to infer that others think the way you do but, I do not. If you want to read the opinion of a real jurist, someone who actually interprets the law the way it reads not trying read intent into it than read Scalia's opinion on this decision. The job of the jurist is interpret the the law as written not to expand on it because you "think" that is what was meant. The proper thing for the jurist to do in these cases is to kick the law back to the legislator to clarify the law not inject your own bias into the law. Instead of unbiased jurists, we have another arm of the legislature which is far more disturbing than the decision itself.
Think of this. The understanding of pretty much everyone was exactly what the supreme court upheld, until someone found a section of the law that was poorly written. Then this court case began.
The entire law was poorly written Alate, there was no time to have any discussion to get it right from the beginning because the democrats just rammed it through without any discussion in the legislature or nationally...don't you remember " we have to pass it to know what is in it" ? This law never had a chance of surviving for the long term, in fact it will fail on it's own because the citizenry cannot afford it to begin with.
Activism would have been going against what the common of the understanding of the law was and suddenly decide it meant something else, even if that was the "plain reading" of the text.
So, you believe that jurists should now go beyond what is written in a law to expand what it clearly says? That dear is activism...legislating from the bench.
Activism is overturning clear intent of a legislative body. But we're stuck with judicial activism because of the paralysis in our political system. Blame the founding fathers.
Intent is derived from the written word and expanding upon what is written is activism...legislating, jurists are not supposed to make law.