The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to let appeals of the healthcare reform law run their course before taking up the cases, according to a report by Fox News.
The request is in reaction to a petition by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to fast-track the case because it is expected to end up there anyway and it involves "pure issues of constitutional law," Mr. Cuccinelli wrote.
But Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal wrote, "there is no basis for short-circuiting the normal course of appellate review" and the Virginia case may lack sufficient standing. Also, the case challenges the law's mandate to buy health insurance, which does not start until 2014.
In January, a federal judge sided with Mr. Cuccinelli and struck down the mandate and the case now goes to the appeals court level. In other challenges, a judge in Florida struck down the whole law while three other federal judges have upheld the law.
The Supreme Court has already refused to fast-track another challenge of the reform law from a conservative legal group in California.
Read the Fox News report on the healthcare reform law.
Read other coverage of the Virginia case and efforts to fast-track appeals:
- Judge Issues First Rejection of Individual Mandate in Reform Law
- Supreme Court Refuses to Weigh in With Early Review of Reform Law
The request is in reaction to a petition by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to fast-track the case because it is expected to end up there anyway and it involves "pure issues of constitutional law," Mr. Cuccinelli wrote.
But Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal wrote, "there is no basis for short-circuiting the normal course of appellate review" and the Virginia case may lack sufficient standing. Also, the case challenges the law's mandate to buy health insurance, which does not start until 2014.
In January, a federal judge sided with Mr. Cuccinelli and struck down the mandate and the case now goes to the appeals court level. In other challenges, a judge in Florida struck down the whole law while three other federal judges have upheld the law.
The Supreme Court has already refused to fast-track another challenge of the reform law from a conservative legal group in California.
Read the Fox News report on the healthcare reform law.
Read other coverage of the Virginia case and efforts to fast-track appeals:
- Judge Issues First Rejection of Individual Mandate in Reform Law
- Supreme Court Refuses to Weigh in With Early Review of Reform Law