Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Appellants' brief filed in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama

The Thomas More Law Center and its accompanying appellants have just filed their opening brief in the Sixth Circuit in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama. You can access their brief here.

This is the second ACA-litigation-related brief to be filed in the United States Courts of Appeals. The appellants in Baldwin v. Sebelius filed their opening brief in the Ninth Circuit November 24. The district court in Baldwin, though, dismissed the plaintiffs' case on standing grounds, so this is the first appellate brief in a case in which the lower court actually reached the merits.

Again, the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Judge Steeh) held that the ACA's minimum coverage provision constitutes a valid exercise of Congress's commerce power, and thus entered summary judgment for the United States. The United States's brief (the appellee) is due January 14.