Thursday round-up

By Amy Howe
on Feb 13, 2014 at 8:07 am

With the Court in recess until the end of the month, coverage of the Court continues to focus on the challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, scheduled for argument at the end of March.  Writing for The Atlantic, Garrett Epps looks at the effect that the Court’s 1982 decision in United States v. Lee – holding that an Amish farmer’s religious objections to the Social Security payroll tax was trumped by “the broad public interest in maintaining a sound tax system” – could have on its decision.  And in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, Matt Bowman (who serves as counsel to one group of challengers in the case) criticizes the arguments made in the brief that the government filed earlier this week.

Briefly:

• At Reason.com, Damon Root previews next month’s arguments in Plumhoff v. Rickard, in which the Court will consider whether police have qualified immunity for the use of deadly force to end a high-speed car chase.
• At ISCOTUS, Christopher Schmidt introduces a new series of posts that will focus on oral arguments at the Court.
• At Cato at Liberty, Ilya Shapiro discusses the issues in Drake v. Jerejian, a challenge to a New Jersey law regulating the carrying of handguns outside the home, in which Cato filed an amicus brief in support of the challengers.