Supreme Court to hear Obamacare challenges

Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted numerous petitions for review of various appellate-court rulings in cases challenging the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.”  Among the petitions granted were those of both the government and the private plaintiffs (represented by former CIR board member Michael Carvin) in Florida v. HHS.  In that case, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, relying heavily on the CIR-set precedent U.S. v. Morrison, struck down the individual mandate portion of Obamacare.  As expected, the Supreme Court granted the government’s petition for review of that decision.  The Court also granted the private plaintiffs’ petition for review of the Eleventh Circuit’s further decision to “sever” the individual mandate part of Obamacare from the rest of the law, thus leaving the parts of the law other than the individual mandate standing.

In granting the petitions, the Court alloted a highly-unusual five-and-a-half hours for oral argument, to take place over two days in March 2012.

• Read the Court’s order