POWIP Piece of Work In Progress – Former Abode of Dan Collins

Breaking: SCOTUS won’t fast-track Obamacare challenges

Coming across the wires just now is news that the Supreme Court has rejected a request by Virginia's AG to directly take up the case of Obamacare's constitutionality. Via NBC:

The Supreme Court has rejected a request from the state of Virginia to take up a challenge to the Obama health care law on a fast track.

The court's decision means the issue will continue working its way through the federal appeals courts. Several cases are pending, including challenges to the law from Virginia, Florida, and 25 other states.

The cases are moving quickly through the appeals courts. The two Virginia cases will be heard by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on May 10th. The Michigan case will be heard by the 6th Circuit on June 1st, and the case from Florida, with the challenges from over half the states, will be argued before the 11th Circuit appeals court on June 8th.

Well, that's, er, interesting eh? So it seems that unless all decisions rendered in these appeals are in agreement, definitive, and go unchallenged by the involved parties (fat chance!), the SCOTUS will probably take up the issue next fall; just in time for the 2012 election cycle to get into full swing.  But really, that's neither here nor there-so to speak, since only in fantasy-land would informed voters not think that Obamacare would be part of the campaign 2012 debate.

As an aside, the NBC article notes that the press release didn't indicate that any of the justices would be recusing themselves from hearing the case.  I personally don't think that it is as a definitive a reading-between-the-lines as NBC's Pete Williams took it to be; after all, the case hasn't actually made it to their docket yet. And while I ultimately don't expect Justice Kagan to recuse herself based on her service as Solicitor General, that bridge will be crossed when SCOTUS actually takes up the case.  Regardless, forces on the port side of the political spectrum have been occasionally pre-emptively arguing that should Kagan have to sit this one out, then so too should Thomas based on his wife's past employment and activism.

As always, that's a specious apples-to-oranges rhetorical comparison, but, hey, some things never change...

Your thoughts,comments, and insight are always appreciated.

Rocketman

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