SCOTUS Preparing to Strike Down Obamacare Contraceptive Mandate?
"What kind of constitutional structure do we have if the Congress can give an agency the power to grant or not grant a religious exemption based on what the agency determined?”
3.26.2014
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is widely perceived to be
the swing vote in the controversial Hobby Lobby case regarding whether
government can force religious businessowners to cover employees’
contraception, is asking questions about whether there are any
limitations to executive power.
“What kind of constitutional structure do we have if the Congress can give an agency the power to grant or not grant a religious exemption based on what the agency determined?” Kennedy asked. “When we have a First Amendment issue of this consequence, shouldn’t we indicate that it’s for the Congress, not the agency to determine that this corporation gets the exemption or that one?”
Kennedy also asked whether the supposed importance of coverage of contraception was undercut by President Obama’s repeated delays of his signature law.
Kennedy was supposed to be the swing vote against Obamacare, but Chief Justice John Roberts surprised observers by rewriting Obamacare into a tax rather than a penalty to place the legality of the law under the auspices of government’s taxing power. Roberts is expected to vote in favor of Hobby Lobby in this case, and seconded Kennedy’s motion, asking whether Obama’s carveouts will ever end.
“What kind of constitutional structure do we have if the Congress can give an agency the power to grant or not grant a religious exemption based on what the agency determined?” Kennedy asked. “When we have a First Amendment issue of this consequence, shouldn’t we indicate that it’s for the Congress, not the agency to determine that this corporation gets the exemption or that one?”
Kennedy also asked whether the supposed importance of coverage of contraception was undercut by President Obama’s repeated delays of his signature law.
Kennedy was supposed to be the swing vote against Obamacare, but Chief Justice John Roberts surprised observers by rewriting Obamacare into a tax rather than a penalty to place the legality of the law under the auspices of government’s taxing power. Roberts is expected to vote in favor of Hobby Lobby in this case, and seconded Kennedy’s motion, asking whether Obama’s carveouts will ever end.
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