Case Brief #2
This is not a traditional “case brief” but rather a brief research project which will have you reviewing secondary sources discussing the cases. You are of course welcome to read the cases themselves; however they are quite lengthy and there are many sound summaries available.
This week’s topic is Administrative(agency) law. One of most significant expansions of Administrative power occurred within the last decade, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (correctly called the ACA, or as the media has ineptly named it, “Obamacare”). Since it’s enactment in 2010, the ACA has undergone a number of challenges to its constitutionality. In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the main portions of the Act in NFIB v Sibelius. A second major challenge was decided in King v. Burwell, this past June. Research these two cases and in 1-2 single-spaced pages (2 pages is an absolute limit here) discuss the legal basis for challenges to the ACA in 2012 and 2015 and why the Supreme Court reached the results that it did. Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the Court’s decisions, based on legal reasoning. List at least 3 sources, at the end of your material.
Obviously there is ALOT of material out there on this topic. Much of it is inflammatory rhetoric that is not very helpful for a sound legal analysis. Remember to focus your research on understanding the two Supreme Court cases noted above. The most reliable resources when it comes to reviewing legal issues tend to be .gov, .edu, or .org sources.
