Ginsburg Doesn’t Reveal High Court Health Law Decision, But Talks About ‘Utility Of Dissent’
News outlets reported that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia are indicating their points of view on the health law.
CNN: Justice Ginsburg Suggests 'Sharp Disagreement' Over Hot-Button Cases
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is predicting "sharp disagreement" as the Supreme Court prepares by month's end to release some of its most-talked-about rulings ... "The term has been more than usually taxing, some have called it the term of the century," she said in remarks at the American Constitution Society's annual review of the court. ... Some of those watching Ginsburg's speech noted her remarks regarding the power of dissents issued by the high court, and whether she was signaling how Congress might follow up to however the health care cases are decided. "I have spoken on more than one occasion about the utility of dissenting opinions, noting in particular that they can reach audiences outside the court and can propel legislative or executive change," she said (Mears, 6/16).
The Hill: Report: Ginsburg Sees 'Sharp Disagreements' As Court Rulings Near
"As one may expect, many of the most controversial cases remain pending,” she said in remarks Friday evening. ... "So it is likely that the sharp disagreement rate will go up next week and the week after" (Geman, 6/16).
Politico: On Eve Of Health Ruling, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Predicts 'Sharp Disagreement'
With a wry smile, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg laid waste Friday to all those rumors about the fate of the Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court. “Those who know don’t talk. And those who talk don’t know,” she quipped ... Ginsburg said she was responding to a "steady stream of rumors and fifth-hand accounts" about the court's deliberations on the law. ... Ginsburg noted that one ACA-related question the court must decide is whether the whole law must fall if the individual mandate is unconstitutional — “or may the mandate be chopped, like a head of broccoli, from the rest of it?" (Cheney, 6/15).
USA Today: Supreme Court Jousts Over Obama Health Care Law
White House senior adviser David Plouffe said Obama and aides are confident the law will be upheld. "I'm not going to get into any contingencies," Plouffe said on ABC's This Week. "We obviously will be prepared for whatever decision the court renders" (Jackson, 6/17).
Politico: Bloggers Fret Over SCOTUS, Kennedy
Many anxious conservative activists gathered at the annual RightOnline bloggers conference this weekend expressed fear that the Supreme Court is going to uphold President Barack Obama’s health care plan - and some worried that Justice Anthony Kennedy will provide the swing vote to do so. “I have a fear that Kennedy will not be the swing vote to overturn Obamacare. He’s a loose cannon,” said conference attendee Jeff Daniels, who runs Hatethemall.com. ... And some argued that even if the Supreme Court ruled to uphold “Obamacare,” it wouldn’t matter because the Republican Party would sweep to power in November and repeal it (Mak, 6/17).
Meanwhile --
The New York Times: Hints In New Scalia Book Of Views On Health Law
Justice Antonin Scalia picked the right moment, then, to deliver more than 500 pages of hints, in a book to be published next week. He wrote it with Bryan A. Garner, and it is an overview and summation of the justice’s approach to making sense of statutes and the Constitution. ... Scalia writes, for instance, that he has little use for a central precedent the Obama administration has cited to justify the health care law under the Constitution’s commerce clause, Wickard v. Filburn (Liptak, 6/15).