Written by Don Byrd
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday sent back to the 4th Circuit Liberty University’s lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act on religious liberty grounds. The Appeals Court had previously dismissed the case, which challenges the constitutionality of the employer mandate, because it had not yet suffered an injury through tax penalty. Now that the Supreme Court has decided that is not a barrier to suit, the case is reopened for the 4th Circuit to consider the merits of the claim. The Washington Post has more:
Liberty University doesn’t want to challenge the individual mandate; we already know what the Supreme Court thinks about that. But it does want are answers on two other provisions that it challenged: the mandate that employers provide insurance coverage and the requirement that contraceptives be covered.
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As to what happens next, the Fourth Circuit Court in Virginia must go ahead and rehear Liberty University’s arguments against the employer mandate and mandated contraceptive coverage. Jennifer Haberkorn notes that this circuit court moves quickly, meaning oral arguments could happen as soon as spring 2013. And that could lay the foundation for a repeat performance in front of the Supreme Court late next year – just before the major parts of the health care law are expected to kick into gear.
Notably, the Obama Administration did not oppose sending the case back to the 4th Circuit, but does maintain the claim is without merit.
