Plaintiffs file cert petition in TMLC v. Obama

We could finally be approaching the end game. The plaintiffs in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, who recently lost at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari at the Supreme Court. Here are the questions presented, as phrased in the petition:

1. Does Congress have authority under the Commerce Clause to require private citizens to purchase and maintain “minimum essential” healthcare insurance coverage under penalty of federal law? 

2. Is the individual mandate provision of the Act unconstitutional as applied to Petitioners who are without healthcare insurance?

This is technically the third ACA-related petition to reach the Court. But the two prior petitions (those in Baldwin v. Sebelius and Virginia v. Sebelius)--both of which were denied--were petitions before judgment. This is the first to reach the Court, obviously, after a decision from the Court of Appeals.

You can access the petition here.