Tagged: U.S. Supreme Court

Comparing the debate to the infamous Dred Scott case, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., says the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act isn't the final word.

In a brief editorial, Paul also addresses criticisms for his earlier dismissal of the high court's powers to declare what is constitutional. He also mentions the Plessy v. Ferguson decision that made racial separation legal in the U.S. under Jim Crow as an example of the high court being wrong about what is constitutional.

From USA Today:

While it is clear to anyone who was awake in high school civics class that the Supreme Court has the power to declare whether a law is valid under the Constitution, that power is not a pronouncement set in stone.

Think of how our country would look now had the Supreme Court not changed its view of what is constitutional. Think of 1857, when the court handed down the outrageous Dred Scott decision, which said African Americans were not citizens.

Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the health care overhaul, governments, businesses, providers and taxpayers are preparing for the law’s implementation, much of it in 2014.

Friday on Byline, we took a close look at the local impacts of the Affordable Care Act with  Jodi Mitchell of Kentucky Voices for Health; Anne Hadreas with the  Kentucky Equal Justice Center and Terry Brooks of Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Information for this post also came from the Associated Press

President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will proceed thanks to the help of conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. The Supreme Court upheld the law today with Roberts joining with the court's four liberal justices in a 5-4 decision. 

Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence compared the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act to the terrorist attacks of September 11.

The comment was reportedly made during a a closed door GOP meeting, according to Politico.

The conservative congressman quickly apologized.

Legal and political scholars are lambasting U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., for dismissing the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in reaction to the health care ruling on Thursday.

In a statement, Paul said the Affordable Care Act would destroy the country's health care system and belittled the role of judicial review.

"Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional," said Paul. "While the court may have erroneously come to the conclusion that the law is allowable, it certainly does nothing to make this mandate or government takeover of our health care right."

But several local and national observers have called Paul's comment out of bounds with the Constitution and the landmark Madison v. Marbury case (1803), which allows for the high court to review laws.

University of Louisville law professor Sam Marcosson says Paul's comments are irresponsible, adding the Supreme Court is the referee of the Constitution.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear says the state will now move forward with the establishment of a health insurance exchange now that the Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of the federal health care overhaul.

Beshear issued this statement today: 

“This Supreme Court decision removes much of the uncertainty about the Affordable Care Act.