Written by Don Byrd
Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will meet to determine which new cases to take up. SCOTUSblog notes that the list of petitions for the conference includes several challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate. Could this be the week the Court decides to resolve one of the most controversial church-state disputes of the last few years?
It sure looks that way. Usually, a petition before the Supreme Court faces very long odds of being accepted. Here, though, the Court has multiple directly conflicting opinions from federal appeals courts, on an issue of public controversy. Some courts have ruled the requirement an unconstitutional burden on the religious exercise of business owners. Others have found the burden too indirect, or ruled that a corporation cannot exercise religion in the first place. Which case or case(s) the court decides to hear could be an interesting clue as to which questions they are prepared to answer.
In a piece today, the NYTimes discusses the potential Supreme Court review here. As always, stay tuned to Blog From the Capital for updates and info, and follow me on Twitter – @bjcblog!
