NRL News
202.626.8824
dadandrusk@aol.com

Opening Arguments Heard in Challenge to ObamaCare

Mar 27, 2012

By Dave Andrusko

It could easily be taken as a sign that the Supreme Court is not going to allow an obscure19th century law to dissuade the justices from tackling the constitutionality of ObamaCare.

Questioning of one attorney came so hot and heavy that at one point three justices– Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sotomayor– started speaking at the same time. “Chief Justice John Roberts, acting as traffic cop, signaled Ginsburg to go first, perhaps in a nod to her seniority,” according to CBS News.

The question today was whether to go forward at all, that is, is a lawsuit premature? Does the 1867 “Anti-Injunction Act” mean no one can file a lawsuit to challenge the “individual  mandate”  before it actually goes into effect in 2014 and those who do not purchase health insurance pay a  penalty in 2015?

The issue has to do with arcane legal questions about what constitutes a “tax.” Attorney Robert  Long “said the penalty for failing to buy insurance functions as a tax, and that the Anti-Injunction Act leaves federal courts without jurisdiction to hear challenges to a tax before someone pays it,” USA Today reported.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit sitting in Richmond, Virginia, held that lawsuits should wait until that actually happens. According to news stories, however, this did not appear to be even a speed bump, let alone an obstacle, to the justices. No party to the case has argued that the case should not go forward, which is why the Court brought in Long, an outside attorney, to make the point that the case ought to be postponed.

Assuming the High Court is not waylaid by this preliminary challenge, the key challenges come up Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tomorrow, in the suit brought by 26 state attorneys general and the National Federation of Independent Business, the Court will take up the thorny issue of  the “individual mandate,” the controversial requirement that virtually all Americans have to buy health insurance. Opponents insist this is an unparalleled expansion of federal power over Americans’ behavior.

Then the justices will hear oral arguments on the equally technical and equally important issue: does the entire law fall if the individual mandate  requirement is ruled unconstitutional?

“Outside groups filed a record 136 briefs on various aspects of the court case,” according to CBS News.

Your feedback is very important to improving National Right to Life News Today. Please send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha

 

Categories: ObamaCare
Tags: ObamaCare