Neoconfederate Apocalypse Averted

Mandate upheld as a tax. Wow. Political in its own way, but I’ll take it. Roberts joins the majority.

…Medicaid provision “limited but not voided.” That doesn’t sound good.

…If I’m understanding Howe correctly, decision was 5-4 — Kennedy dissented. Wow.

…now I wonder if Scalia will dissent, or just join Alito and/or Thomas.

…Kennedy would have voted to strike the law “in its entirety.”

…Amy Howe: “In Plain English: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.”

…All hail the great sage Walter Dellinger.

…opinion here.

…oddity: the four dissenters signed their opinion jointly, like Cooper v. Aaron but in dissent. I’ve never seen that before. That’s why Kennedy read it although Scalia (the most senior dissenter) was the first name.