Today at the Court
on Jan 6, 2012 at 8:20 am
Returning from holiday recess, the Supreme Court meets in a private Conference this morning and may accept new cases for review. Because the April calendar of arguments is not yet filled, the Court may decide, if it grants new cases, to expedite them. It is possible that such orders would emerge this afternoon. If not, any orders will come out at 10 a.m. Monday. The Court is also expected to announce later today whether there will be decisions next week in argued cases.
In addition, opening briefs on the merits are due to be filed later today on three of the four issues the Court is reviewing on the constitutionality of the new federal health care law, on which arguments are scheduled in late March. The federal government’s brief is due on the constitutionality of the mandate that virtually all Americans obtain health insurance by 2014. The brief of a Court-appointed counsel is due on whether the challenges to the mandate’s validity are barred by the federal Anti-Injunction Act. Lawyers for 26 states and for a business trade group will each be filing a brief on whether any part of the new law can survive if the mandate is struck down — the “severability” issue. (The opening merits brief of the 26 states on the fourth issue, the validity of the expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor, is due next Tuesday, January 10.) The blog will post the briefs filed today as soon as they become available. They also are expected to be available on the Court’s website.
Depending upon what happens at the Court during the day, the blog may also publish later today a post previewing Monday afternoon’s argument in the three Texas redistricting cases. Otherwise, that post will appear here on Saturday.
