Supreme Court Secretly Decides Obamacare's Fate

Updated from 12:14 p.m. ET with closing bell results

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Should any of the U.S. Supreme Court justices suffer a heart attack during Friday's conference to discuss opinions on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Justice Elena Kagan would leave her seat, walk to the chamber door, open it, and notify the U.S. Marshal securing the room to get a doctor.

That's how secretive Friday's opinion conferral is among the justices and just one slice of the procedures carried out as the highest court in the land determines the fate of the health care law otherwise known as Obamacare.

Obamacare's fate could be secretly decided Friday.

"On Friday they will take a vote, and that vote will be probably the final vote, although it's not binding and the justices can change their minds later," said Greg Magarian, a Washington University in St. Louis law professor who clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens.

The justices will confer in a room by themselves -- no one else is legally allowed to be present except for the nine men and women appointed by current and past presidents -- seated in order of seniority as the chief justice heads the discussion.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who formerly clerked for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, holds his conferences in the same tradition as his predecessor.

In this tradition, each justice, starting with the most senior (which is the Chief Justice), states an uninterrupted opinion about the arguments for the specific case. Each justice may speak only once to state his or her comments, which, once completed, concludes that justice's opportunity to speak again.

The next justice in seniority then confers his or her opinion about the case; that order repeats until the most junior -- Kagan -- completes her statements.

Kagan's junior status is why she would have to alert the U.S. Marshal standing guard at the chamber door if one of the justices had encountered any health difficulties. That's an extreme case. The usual request Kagan may make is to call out for lunch for the nine as they confer.

Seniority of the court goes in the following order: Roberts (even though he isn't the longest tenured, the chief justice is always the most senior), Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Kagan.

Once all justices have stated a case, Roberts will then hold a vote for where they intend to side on a case. The "majority" opinion refers to the side that garners -- at least in the Obamacare case -- five votes, while the "dissenting" opinion is the minority.

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