Obamacare on Trial: Case of the Century?
Jonathan Cohn
TNR
March 18, 2012 | 11:27 pm
Next week the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act. But is it really the “case of the century,” as pundits have started calling it?
It’s difficult to say without knowing the outcome. Presently that distinction belongs to Bush v. Gore, a decision that truly altered history. Just think how the years after 2001 would have unfolded if Al Gore had been president. But Bush v. Gore didn’t change constitutional doctrine. The five justices voting to end the Florida recount and make Bush president wrote that their argument was "limited to the present circumstances" – in other words, that they were not making broader arguments about federal power over elections and interpretation of the equal protection clause.
That claim provoked widespread derision within the legal establishment, which took the statement as a sign even the judges understood they were standing on a weak legal foundation. But the justices may get their way. Most experts still consider Bush v. Gore bad law.
Rejecting the Affordable Care Act could deprive 30 million people of health insurance, weaken the coverage for tens of millions more, and alter one-sixth of the economy. In those respects, obviously, it would be a highly consequential decision. But such a ruling could also have have far-reaching legal effects, the kind Bush v. Gore did not. At least in theory, the court could use this case to redefine the boundaries of federal power, in a way that the courts have not done in nearly a century.
I generally leave the sophisticated constitutional analysis to Jeff Rosen, my (much) more informed colleague. But you don't have to be a legal expert to spot three key questions before the Court, each of which could lead the justices to establish new constitutional doctrine:
(More here.)
TNR
March 18, 2012 | 11:27 pm
Next week the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act. But is it really the “case of the century,” as pundits have started calling it?
It’s difficult to say without knowing the outcome. Presently that distinction belongs to Bush v. Gore, a decision that truly altered history. Just think how the years after 2001 would have unfolded if Al Gore had been president. But Bush v. Gore didn’t change constitutional doctrine. The five justices voting to end the Florida recount and make Bush president wrote that their argument was "limited to the present circumstances" – in other words, that they were not making broader arguments about federal power over elections and interpretation of the equal protection clause.
That claim provoked widespread derision within the legal establishment, which took the statement as a sign even the judges understood they were standing on a weak legal foundation. But the justices may get their way. Most experts still consider Bush v. Gore bad law.
Rejecting the Affordable Care Act could deprive 30 million people of health insurance, weaken the coverage for tens of millions more, and alter one-sixth of the economy. In those respects, obviously, it would be a highly consequential decision. But such a ruling could also have have far-reaching legal effects, the kind Bush v. Gore did not. At least in theory, the court could use this case to redefine the boundaries of federal power, in a way that the courts have not done in nearly a century.
I generally leave the sophisticated constitutional analysis to Jeff Rosen, my (much) more informed colleague. But you don't have to be a legal expert to spot three key questions before the Court, each of which could lead the justices to establish new constitutional doctrine:
(More here.)
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