DC Circuit Health Reform Ruling Has Supreme Court Implications

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is constitutional. Of particular significance in terms of its likely consideration by the Supreme Court is that Senior Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman, a well known conservative jurist who wrote the opinion, rejected the health reform law opponent's arguments.

"It is hard to imagine anything that could take more of the wind from the sails of ACA opponents than this terse, unequivocal ruling that their case against the ACA individual mandate has no 'real support in either the text of the Constitution or Supreme Court precedent,'" noted NSCLC Public Policy Counsel Simon Lazarus. "There is no judge more respected in conservative legal and political circles than Judge Silberman."

Lazarus added that this decision comes in the wake of Sixth Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton's (another prominent conservative jurist) similarly sweeping rejection of the opponents' case. It also comes on the eve of the Supreme Court's November 10 conference on whether to accept review of the pending ACA cases.

"The Supreme Court's conservative bloc is facing strong recommendations to handle this case as judicial conservatives, not libertarian radicals or political activists," Lazarus concluded.

The NSCLC filed an amicus brief in the case.

The National Senior Citizens Law Center is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to protect the rights of low-income older adults. Through advocacy, litigation, and the education and counseling of local advocates, we seek to ensure the health and economic security of those with limited income and resources, and access to the courts for all. For more information, visit our Web site at www.NSCLC.org.

SOURCE National Senior Citizens Law Center