Federal Judiciary

City: No harm in health spending law

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

City and county officials in San Francisco on Wednesday urged Supreme Court Justices Anthony M. Kennedy to allow a federal appeals court to go forward with an expedited review of a local ordinance that specifies minimum spending by employers on workers’ health care.  Responding to a restaurant association’s application (07A654) to block that ordinance, local officials said no one will have to make any expenditures under the ordinance until April 30, and noted that the Ninth Circuit is holding an expedited oral argument on the case on April 17.  “The Court of Appeals therefore will have time to issue a merits decision (or to reconsider…after having received full briefing and argument on the merits) before that April 30 deadline,” the city/county reply said.  A District Court judge barred enforcement of the law, but the Ninth Circuit stayed that order, allowing the ordinance nominally to take effect while it considers the appeal by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.

Justice Kennedy, as Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit, has the option of deciding the application to vacate the Ninth Circuit’s order himself, or of referring it to the full Court for action.

The restaurant group’s application is discussed in this earlier post.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).