Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare - Hardcover

Josh Blackman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1610393287 ISBN 13: 9781610393287

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2013

Synopsis

Foreword by Randy E. Barnett

In 2012, the United States Supreme Court became the center of the political world. In a dramatic and unexpected 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts voted on narrow grounds to save the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Unprecedented tells the inside story of how the challenge to Obamacare raced across all three branches of government, and narrowly avoided a constitutional collision between the Supreme Court and President Obama.

On November 13, 2009, a group of Federalist Society lawyers met in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., to devise a legal challenge to the constitutionality of President Obama's "legacy" -- his healthcare reform. It seemed a very long shot, and was dismissed peremptorily by the White House, much of Congress, most legal scholars, and all of the media. Two years later the fight to overturn the Affordable Care Act became a political and legal firestorm. When, finally, the Supreme Court announced its ruling, the judgment was so surprising that two cable news channels misreported it and announced that the Act had been declared unconstitutional.

Unprecedented offers unrivaled inside access to how key decisions were made in Washington, based on interviews with over one hundred of the people who lived this journey -- including the academics who began the challenge, the attorneys who litigated the case at all levels, and Obama administration attorneys who successfully defended the law. It reads like a political thriller, provides the definitive account of how the Supreme Court almost struck down President Obama's "unprecedented" law, and explains what this decision means for the future of the Constitution, the limits on federal power, and the Supreme Court.

About this title

About the Author

Josh Blackman is an assistant professor of law at the South Texas College of Law and president of the Harlan Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about the Supreme Court and the Constitution. He has published over a dozen law review articles about constitutional law, written numerous op-eds, and been interviewed about the Supreme Court by the New York Times, CNN, ABC News Radio, Reuters, the National Law Journal, the American Bar Association Journal, and Yahoo! News. The American Bar Association Journal selected his personal blog as one of its top 100 Legal Blogs. He also runs FantasySCOTUS.net.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Unprecedented


"From being at the right place at the right time and by dint of prodigious effort, Josh Blackman got the inside scoop on the constitutional case of the century, which he now shares with all of us. Combining information gleaned from his extensive interviews with the principals with his constitutional expertise as a scholar, Blackman is able to describe the litigation strategies of the parties and explain the sometimes confusing constitutional doctrines raised by the case in language anyone can understand. Even those who were deeply involved in the litigation stand to learn from his evenhanded exposition. I know I have. Unprecedented is the definitive account of the historic constitutional challenge to Obamacare."
--RANDY E. BARNETT, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, and director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, Georgetown University Law Center


"The story of the legal challenge to Obamacare is one of the most remarkable in the nation's history, and Josh Blackman's fascinating new book takes us through its many twists and turns with masterful aplomb. Blackman's narrative never flags as he guides us through the ins and outs of litigation strategy and constitutional argument. This is an absorbing tale of how a landmark Supreme Court opinion was born."
--JACK M. BALKIN, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment, Yale Law School


"This will surely be recognized as the definitive account of the convoluted litigation leading up to the Supreme Court's historic ruling on the Affordable Care Act and of what that ruling might portend for the future. It's a rare combination of a page-turner and a careful explanation of the legal arguments--all the more remarkable because it comes from someone who played a role in developing the challenge to the Act and thus is anything but a disinterested observer. This is as good an example as we are likely to see of a head-to-toe dissection of a still living legal specimen."
--LAURENCE H. TRIBE, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School

"Riveting"
--FRED BARNES, The Weekly Standard

Reviews

The pitched legal battle to end the national health-care program known as Obamacare ended in a surprising decision supported by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, a decision that promises continued strife on the issue of health care as well as constitutional issues. Blackman, law professor, blogger, and representative of a coalition of independent business interests opposed to the program, spent more than two years following the legislative process that produced Obamacare and the legal challenges to the program. Blackman argues that the process was unprecedented in many ways, including the nature of the legislation to compel citizens to buy insurance, the legal arguments for and against, and the political pressure brought to bear on the Left and the Right. He details the political machinations behind the Supreme Court decision in favor of the health-care program, particularly pressure on Roberts. Blackman also explores the significance of the decision as a galvanizing issue for conservatives and future implications for challenges to government power. --Vanessa Bush

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Reacting to CNN’s false reports, many Republicans were ebullient. Chants of ?USA, USA” erupted on the Courthouse steps. Across the street from the Court, Ohio Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt, a proud member of the Tea Party?who had lambasted Bart Stupak for accepting President Obama’s executive order?was captured on film listening intently to her cell phone. Moments after CNN’s report, Schmidt screamed at the top of her lungs, ?Yes, Yes.” A blogger at CrooksandLiars said the yelp reminded her of Meg Ryan’s orgasmic outburst in When Harry Met Sally.

?What else?” Schmidt demands of whoever is on her phone. A man on the street yells to her, ?Speak!” Schmidt continues, ?Thank God. They struck down the individual mandate. They took it away.” People on the street start screaming. One yells ?Oh my god.” Another yells, ?The mandate is struck down. The mandate is struck down.” The cheering outside the Court gets louder and louder. In the backdrop, you can see people waving Gadsen flags, celebrating. They chanted ?Constitution wins!” This joy would be short-lived.

A number of politicians tweeted out, celebrating the victory. Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash tweeted ?This is a big win for #liberty and the #Constitution.” California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, promptly retweeted that message. Florida Republican Rep. Dennis Ross tweeted, ?Let Freedom Ring.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx tweeted, ?#Unconstitutional: #SCOTUS overturns #Obamacare’s individual insurance #mandate. Developing...” All of the tweets were deleted within ten minutes.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, watched with trepidation the initial reports from CNN and Fox News. The president was still in the dark.

Edition details

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1610393287
• ISBN 13: 9781610393287
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352