Second update from the severability argument
on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:24 am
We are roughly two-thirds of the way through the severability argument. The government’s lawyer was finishing up when I left the building. So far it is hard to see where this one is going. Almost all of the Justices asked Clement questions, and many were skeptical of his argument that if the mandate and the provisions link to it go, all that would be left is a hollow shell.
But Ed Kneedler also faced skeptical questions, especially from the more conservative Justices, who asked him how the Court should figure out what other provisions must go. Are we supposed to go through the whole 2700 pages, they asked? (Justice Scalia suggested that this would violate the Eighth Amendment.)
