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…

Earlier this week, the legal challenge to last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act moved one step closer to the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments for two lawsuits against the landmark health care reform bill — one brought by the State of Virginia and the other by Liberty University, a small religious-affiliated school located in Lynchburg, Virginia.