Thursday round-up
on Jun 7, 2012 at 9:29 am
The impending decision in the challenge to the Affordable Care Act continues to drive coverage of the Court. At Bloomberg News, Greg Stohr discusses “the hazard of predicting the outcome of Supreme Court cases” based on oral argument, while at ACSblog, Rob Weiner discusses the “partisan coloration” of the case. At Verdict, Vikram Amar responds to an op-ed by Michael McConnell in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) on May 24 which criticized “liberal law professors” who support the individual mandate. Also at ACSblog, Jeremy Leaming argues that the challenge to the Affordable Care Act forms part of a broader effort by a “right wing ‘infrastructure’ that has its sights set on longstanding but weakened social safety net laws,” while the Associated Press covers an interview with the incoming president of the American Medical Association, who told reporters that he does not expect “chaos” if the Court strikes down part or all of the ACA. At Politico, Jonathan Allen notes that a ruling striking down parts of the law might save the government hundreds of billions of dollars in advance of looming budgetary battles, although a ruling striking down the entire law would slightly increase the deficit. And the Constitution Daily blog of the National Constitution Center reports on a panel discussion on the Commerce Clause, in which Jack Balkin and Randy Barnett discussed the health care litigation.
Briefly:
- The Library of Congress announced yesterday that Orin Kerr has been named the first Scholar in Residence at the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation Program on Demography, Technology and Criminal Justice at the Library of Congress. Professor Kerr comments here.
- At Constitution Daily, Lyle Denniston discusses allegations that the Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has led to lower voter turnout.
- Writing in the Huffington Post, Steve Sanders considers the possible paths to the Supreme Court for the various same-sex marriage cases that have recently been decided by lower courts.
- In a recent speech, former President Bill Clinton publicly confirmed for the first time that he offered then-Governor of New York Mario Cuomo a seat on the Supreme Court. Joanna Molloy of the New York Daily News has coverage.
- Josh Rothman of the Boston Globe’s Brainiac blog discusses a recent law review article on the Justices’ use of Google to conduct their own research.
- The editorial board of the Los Angeles Times praises the Court’s decision in Reichle v. Howards, in which the Court unanimously held that two Secret Service agents are entitled to qualified immunity from claims that they arrested a man in retaliation for remarks made about then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
