The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its 2012-13 term on Monday with an upcoming docket that, while perhaps not containing the high stakes legal fireworks that marked the end of the 2011-12 term, has a number of interesting cases set for the coming months. In its first case of the new term, the Court heard oral arguments in Kiobel v. Dutch Petroleum, which deals with whether parties — including corporations — can be sued under Federal law for human rights violations on either U.S. or foreign soil. Kiobel was originally argued last term, but it was relisted in order to…

It’s been two weeks since the Supreme Court handed down the last decision of the 2011-12 term, the highly anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Much of the nation is still buzzing over Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision to write the majority opinion upholding most of the law, and speculation and rumors have run rampant over the behind-the-scenes action that led up to the controversial decision. Did the chief justice switch his vote at the last minute? Was his majority opinion a surreptitious way of reigning in Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause?…

In a 5-4 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is constitutional. The Court upheld the most controversial portion of the law — the requirement that as of 2014 all Americans must have health insurance or pay a penalty — as a valid exercise of Congress’s tax powers. The penalty, the majority held, is in fact a tax on those who do not have health insurance, as it is enforced through the tax code and assessed on Federal tax returns. In rendering this judgment, the Court…

As the Washington political class waits for the U.S. Supreme Court to hand down decisions in such hotly contested cases as the challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the constitutionality of Arizona’s immigration law, there is evidence that the public at large is losing confidence in the Court as an impartial arbiter of justice. In a New York Times/CBS poll released last week, only 44 percent of Americans approved of the job the Court is doing — down from a highs in the mid-60s during the late 1980s. This rating is even lower than the results in a Pew…

In a decision that seems certain to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that a key provision of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. In a 3-to-0 decision, the appeals court struck down a portion of the Act that prevents individuals in same-sex marriages recognized by States from receiving Federal benefits conferred on married couples, such as being able to receive spousal Social Security benefits and file taxes jointly. The circuit court held that such a prohibition violated principles of Federalism and unlawfully targeted minority interests…

The Supreme Court wrapped up its third and final day of oral arguments on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act today, as it considered two distinct questions. The first case dealt with how much of the reform law should survive if the Court strikes down the mandate that most Americans must buy health insurance or pay a penalty. Lawyers for the opponents of the law argued that the entire Act must be thrown out. The Obama Administration position is that the prohibition against insurers discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions, as well as insurance rate controls, would be invalidated….

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard the first round of oral arguments for cases challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature health care reform legislation. In a way, it was an appetizer before the judicial main course that will be served up the following two days, as the nine justices spent 89 minutes considering whether they should even be considering this case right now at all. At the center of Monday’s discussion was a 19th century law called the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits challenges to tax laws until they take effect. The question…

The wait is finally over. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to a series of cases challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law. For five and a half hours over the course of two days sometime next March, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on several aspects of the the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For two hours, the Court will consider whether the mandate that all U.S. citizens must buy health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional. For the next 90 minutes, the Court will hear arguments about whether the…

The U.S. Supreme Court opened what is likely to be a closely watched and potentially explosive new term on Monday. The dominant theme of this, the sixth year of the Roberts Court, is the power of the Federal government and attempts to define its limits. Although there are some cases already on the docket that are sure to generate a great deal of interest, it’s the cases that the Court has yet to grant certiorari to, but may very well decide to consider, that are generating white-hot attention. Two cases that very likely will be taken up by the Court…

On Wednesday, the Obama Administration announced that it would appeal an Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s decision to strike down part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Administration could have opted to request that the full circuit court rehear the case en banc, but the Administration declined to do so. This means the High Court will almost certainly consider the case in the upcoming 2011-12 term and could grant certiorari as early as next week, when the new session begins on Monday. “Today, the Obama Administration will ask the…