The Department of Justice has declined to ask the Eleventh Circuit for an en banc reconsideration of a three-judge panel’s decision striking down the individual mandate, clearing the way for Obamacare to reach the Supreme Court in time for a ruling before the 2012 election. SCOTUSblog’s Lyle Denniston explains that this is somewhat unexpected:
Monday was the deadline for the Administration to file for en banc review in the Eleventh Circuit case (Florida, et al., v. Sebelius), and there had been fairly wide speculation that the government would in fact seek such a reconsideration – among other reasons, perhaps, to slow down the process in hopes that the Supreme Court would not reach a final decision in the midst of a national political campaign in the early summer next year.
I would caution against getting our hopes up about the law being overturned, but I’d be delighted to be proven wrong.
