Speedy Filings Could Mean Speedy Cert Decision on Health Care Law
Speedy court filings could put challenges to the Obama’s administration’s health care law on the Supreme Court’s docket sooner rather than later.
The U.S. Justice Department and 26 states challenging the law have filed briefs ahead of schedule, report USA Today and SCOTUSblog. “It now seems inevitable that the justices will take up the dispute this term, which is expected to end in late June,” USA Today says.
The justices will meet in private conferences in late October and early November to deliberate which cases to accept.
The Obama administration filed a consolidated brief late Monday in response to cert petitions by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, SCOTUSblog says. The deadlines were Oct. 28 and Oct. 31.
The Justice Department brief urged the Supreme Court to limit its review of the law to the health insurance mandate, according to the blog and Bloomberg News. The DOJ also said the court should consider how a decision striking down the mandate would affect the rest of the law.
The briefs concern a decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the insurance mandate exceeds Congress’ powers under the commerce clause.
