Tomorrow the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding the constitutionality of Arizona’s “show me your papers” law, S.B. 1070, in the case Arizona v. United States. As the Court considers aspects of the law’s legality, it is also important to consider its functionality. Ever since this extreme law passed in 2010, its stated purpose of “enforcement through attrition”… Read more →
Tag: Courts
Day 1 (Monday): Should This Case Be Considered Later?
Yesterday was the first day of arguments at the Supreme Court on the challenge to the Affordable Care Act. (The transcript and audio recording are available.) Monday’s argument involved the question of whether the Supreme Court could even rule on the case at this point. There is a federal law called the Anti-Injunction Act which says you can’t challenge a “tax” until… Read more →
Supreme Court Takes up Challenge to Health Reform Law
As the New York Times reported on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will decide the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in this current term, with a decision probably due by June 2012. The central issue that will be decided by the Court is whether Congress had the authority to create the ACA’s Individual Repsonsibility Provision,… Read more →
Health Reform Victory Reinforces Need to Continue Implementation
On Thursday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is the comprehensive health reform law signed into law by President Obama in March 2010. The 2-1 Court of Appeals decision joins dozens of other lawsuits challenging the ACA that have been dismissed because either they found… Read more →
Breaking – and Heartbreaking – News out of Alabama
Here is a powerful story from The New York Times documenting the early effects of Alabama’s shameful law: hundreds of students withdrawing from local schools; stores and restaurants noticeably less busy; people – including people with legal status – who had called Alabama home for 2, 5, 10 years, gone in a matter of days. Read more →
Supreme Court Reinforces Juvenile Court’s Authority to Enforce Orders when HHS Fails to Comply
On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court issued a decision that strengthens the authority of juvenile courts in Nebraska to hold HHS in contempt when the Department willfully fails to comply with orders designed to serve the best interests of children. The case involved an order by the Cheyenne County Court, sitting as a juvenile court, requiring HHS to place a… Read more →
Yet Another Health Care Challenge Rejected
On Thursday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed two constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), finding that both plaintiffs lacked the requisite standing to challenge the law. Out of the other four other circuits have that have ruled on ACA challenges, only one other (the 11th Circuit) has decided (in a 2-1 opinion) that the individual responsibility… Read more →
Enforcing Court Orders in the Best Interests of Children
Yesterday, the Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments in an appeal of a juvenile court’s order holding HHS in contempt for failure to provide counseling services as ordered for a child in an out-of-home placement. In this case, HHS also questioned the authority of juvenile courts to hold HHS responsible for payments by HHS’s lead contractor under the child welfare privatization… Read more →