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US Supreme Court Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 11, 2012 29 Comments

The big shock in the Supreme Court's Obamacare ruling was not that the law was upheld.  Most people thought there was a substantial chance Justice Kennedy would side with the four liberal Justices. But almost no one thought that it would be Chief Justice John Roberts...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 07, 2012 19 Comments

Just breaking, via The Hill: The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — the federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The court also agreed to hear a...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 10, 2012 9 Comments

Argument was heard today in the Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas. The issues, as summarized at ScotusBlog were: This morning the Court heard oral arguments in what is likely to be one of the highest-profile cases of this Term: Fisher v. University of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 04, 2012 34 Comments

The conundrum - how to be intellectually consistent that the mandate was an unconstitutional penalty to force people into commerce, yet deal with the fact that The Chief and the four liberal Justices called it a constitutional tax. I said the only solution to this pretzel...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 03, 2012 33 Comments

I guess that doesn't surprise me. Also, does Christie thread the needle on the tax/penalty issue?  Or just muddle things even more?  (not his fault, really) Via Mediaite: Sure. Yeah. I mean, listen, I thought all along that it was a tax. And I don’t think it’s exclusively...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 02, 2012 73 Comments

Saving Obamacare by calling a penalty a tax has created all sorts of political contortions. What if the Supreme Court had called a dog a cat, would we then be required to call a dog a cat, particularly if it were better for us? That's where we...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 01, 2012 33 Comments

Via @DrMartyFox: Via Newsbusters: And the laughs continue: Obama Budget chief Jack Lew refuses under intense Chris Wallace grilling to admit Obamacare funding mechanism is a tax. Telling.— Brit Hume (@Kimsfirst) July 1, 2012 ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 30, 2012 88 Comments

There's not much I can add to what I have already said about the unreality of the reaction to the Obamacare decision by the conservative silver lining crowd. A growing chorus understands. John Yoo: Conservatives are scrambling to salvage something from the decision of their once-great judicial hero...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2012 58 Comments

I have expressed my frustration with those who see some salvation in the supposed advancement of constitutional federalism in the ruling by Chief Justice Roberts and the four conservative dissenters that the Commerce and Necessary and Proper Clauses did not justify forcing people into commerce. Those...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2012 50 Comments

The self-delusion that yesterday's affirmation of Obamacare's mandate under the taxing power of Congress was a conservative victory continues in full force today.  (See links and quotes at HotAir and Instapundit) Judicial restraint now means ignoring the will of Congress as to the purposes and structure...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 70 Comments

Makes many of the points I made today, including rejecting the delusion that this was a victory: ...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 143 Comments

Some well-meaning people are peddling the notion that today's Obamacare decision was a long term victory, that we lost the battle but won the war, that there was some master plan by Chief Justice Roberts to gut the expansion of Commerce Clause power under the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 71 Comments

The most disturbing thing about today's decision is not that we lost on the mandate. The majority opinion on the Commerce Clause (the Chief Justice plus the conservative dissenters) was quite good, and vindicated those who mounted an argument as to "inactivity" to the derision...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 41 Comments

On August 14, 2009, I tried to sound the alarm as to where Democrats' health care proposals were heading. At that time I was dealing with the precursors to what became Obamacare.  The congressional language distinguishing the mandate as a penalty and the political arguments that...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 57 Comments

Romney's statement: Obama lied to the American people. Again. He said it wasn't a tax. Obama lies; freedom dies.— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) June 28, 2012 Not taking Congress at its word on penalty is the new judicial restraint #SCOTUSlogic— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) June 28, 2012 SCOTUS to POTUS:...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 28, 2012 198 Comments

Consider this Pep Talk IV. Was it over when Harry Reid pushed Obamacare through at Christmas time in December 2009? Not when voters took to the voting booth and elected Scott Brown. Was it over when Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats were forced to accept the Senate version...

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