Thursday, September 22, 2011

Oral argument tomorrow in Seven-Sky v. Holder

Tomorrow, the D.C. Circuit becomes the fourth court of appeals (after the Fourth, Eleventh, and Sixth Circuits) to hear a case raising a constitutional challenge to the ACA. (More precisely, it is the fourth to hear such a case on the actual merits of the challenge.) The panel of judges hearing the case is the most august to date--Circuit Judges Laurence Silberman, Harry Edwards, and Brett Kavanaugh. Given the timing, it seems somewhat unlikely that this will be the case on which the Supreme Court grants certiorari. But there is no doubt that the justices will be interested in what these three judges have to say on the matter.

Again, each side will have 40 minutes for argument. And the order of the issues to be addressed is as follows (per the court's order of last week):

1. Commerce Clause
2. Taxing Clause
3. Anti-Injunction Act