Litigation

Consolidated, Quick Health Care Appeal Sought

By Peter Hardin

Virginia has asked the Supreme Court not only to expedite review of a legal challenge to the nation’s health care reform, but also to wrap all the cases decided by federal courts so far into one for the purposes of appeal, according to a SCOTUSblog article.

Meanwhile 74 House Democrats sent a letter to Justice Clarence Thomas, asking that he step aside from reviewing any appeal of the health care law because “the line between your impartiality and you and your wife’s financial stake in the overturn of health-care reform is blurred.” Virginia Thomas has set up a conservative lobbying shop.

In his petition to the Supreme Court, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said an expedited Supreme Court review of the challenge would save states and the private sector costs tied to a law, which he maintained may be declared unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported.

The House Democrat’s bid for Justice Thomas to recuse himself follows, according to a Politico report, concerned floated by some Republicans about the impartiality of Justice Elena Kagan on the issue; she was the U.S. solicitor general when Congress debated the health care overhaul.

“I’m skeptical that in any of these cases these Justices’ impartiality could reasonably be questioned, and it seems more accurate to say that partisans are looking for an excuse to knock out of the vote someone likely to vote against their interests,” election law scholar Rick Hasen wrote on his Election Law blog.

You can learn more about federal court rulings to date on the health care law by clicking here for earlier Gavel Grab posts, and you can find out more about controversy around Justice Thomas and his wife, Virginia, by clicking here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 10, 2011 (boomark / email).