Friday, March 11, 2011

Plaintiffs respond to U.S. request to expedite, additionally petition for en banc hearing

The plaintiff-appellees in Florida v. HHS (26 states, two private individuals, and the NFIB) have filed their response the DOJ's petition to expedite appellate review in the Eleventh Circuit. The response generally agrees with the schedule proposed by the United States (detailed in a post below), though there may be some disagreement about how much additional time might be necessary for DOJ to respond the plaintiffs' cross-appeal (as they lost on every claim other than that the individual mandate exceeds Congress's enumerated powers).

You can find the response here.

In addition, the plaintiff-appellees have filed a petition for en banc review, specifically requesting that the case be heard by the full Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta the week of June 6. (This has now become commonplace in these cases. Although petitions for en banc review are generally made after a three-judge panel decision--and thus are petitions for en banc rehearing--this is now the third case in which plaintiffs challenging the ACA have sought en banc review in the first instance, the others being Baldwin v. Sebelius (CA9) and Mead v. Holder (CADC).)

You can access the petition for en banc review here.