Before the Supreme Court’s decision in NFIB v. Sebelius, many predicted the decision would influence public perceptions of the Court and its legitimacy. If a new Rasmussen poll is to believed, the decision has had some such effect already. From the poll summary: A week ago, 36% said the court was doing a good or […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
If the Mandate Is a Tax . . .
I was asked this question last night, and I’m not sure of the answer: If the mandate is a tax, does this mean it could be repealed through the reconciliation process?
Reasons for Cheer
From James Stewart’s “Common Sense” NYT column: Despite the statute’s survival, the significance of the ruling for the commerce clause wasn’t lost on constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum. “It’s a dark day and the opinion is very dispiriting,” Charles Fried, a Harvard constitutional law professor, told me from Rome, where he was on […]
The Chief Gets No Respect
I understand the disappointment that Chief Justice Roberts did not join the dissenters to hold the individual mandate unconstitutional. Whether or not the Chief Justice changed his vote, or was convinced of the proper outcome throughout, Matthew Franck cautions commentators about attributing political or other non-judicial motives to his decision. Last week, in poking fun […]
SCOTUSBlog Commentary: “Lose the battle, win the war?”
My contribution to the SCOTUSBlog post-decision symposium elaborates on some of the points I made in my early Bench Memos post on the decision. Here are some excerpts: For those who opposed the individual mandate and hoped to see the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act struck down, today’s Supreme Court decision is a […]
SCOTUSBlog Post-Decision Symposium
SCOTUSBlog has begun posting contributions to its post-decision symposium on NFIB v. Sebelius. Among those with contributions thus far are Laurence Tribe, Alan Morrison Ricahrd Epstein, and our own Randy Barnett. More conspirators will follow (in fact, I just sent mine in — so now I can go read the others!). UPDATE: Here are posts […]
And in really important Supreme Court news . . .
The Court dismissed First American Financial Corporation v. Edwards as improvidently granted.
Initial Thoughts on the Health Care Ruling
The full set of opinions, with the syllabus, total 193 pages. I’m not sure if that’s a record, but it’s up there. The primary dissent is a joint dissent by all four dissenting justices. This is unusual. Their dissent rejects both the individual mandate and the Medicaid expansion. Because these two provisions are central to […]
Stolen Valor Act Struck Down
By Jonathan H. Adler on June 28, 2012 10:19 am in First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Knowingly False Statements of Fact
In United States v. Alvarez the Supreme Court has held that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional. Justice Kennedy wrote for the Court, joined by the Chief Justice, and Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor. Justice Breyer, joined by Justice Kagan, concurred in the judgment concluding the law is unconstitutional as written, but also suggesting that a […]
SCOTUSBlog
Most court watchers will get news of the Court’s decision today from SCOTUSBlog. Appropriately, the Washington Post profiles this invaluable resource this morning.
The D.C. Circuit’s Greenhouse Gas Decision
Today’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA is quite significant for environmental law. As John Elwood notes below, the court turned away the state and industry challenges to the EPA’s decision to begin regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The only […]
Poll Shocker: Majority of Liberal Law Professors Believe Mandate Is Constitutional
This Bloomberg story, based on a poll of 21 constitutional law professors at elite law schools, is getting a surprising amount of play. The U.S. Supreme Court should uphold a law requiring most Americans to have health insurance if the justices follow legal precedent, according to 19 of 21 constitutional law professors who ventured an […]
David Rivkin – Opposing the Mandate Before It Was Cool
The WSJ has republished an op-ed opposing an individual mandate to purchase health insurance by David Rivkin from September 29, 1993. This op-ed was published challenging the constitutional basis of both the Clinton health care plan and the alternative pushed by some Republicans at the time that featured an individual mandate. Here is an excerpt: […]
RegBlog Symposium on “Romney’s Regulatory Plan”
This week RegBlog is publishing an online symposium on Mitt Romney’s regulatory proposals. Participants include Ronald Cass, William Funk, Jack Beermann, Richard Murphy, and yours truly. One piece will be posted each day. Ron Cass’ essay is here. Mine will appear tomorrow. UPDATE: My contribution is now online here.
A Free Speech Victory in Maryland
The peace order barring blogger Aaron Walker (aka Aaron Worthing) from blogging about Brett Kimberlin has been modified pending a hearing in July. As Popehat notes, the circuit order included a benchslap at the lower court judge, C.J. Vaughey, for disregarding the Supreme Court’s seminal First Amendment decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio. For background, see […]