Legal News

From Justice Breyer, a Harbinger on Health Care?

By Ashby Jones

A lot has to happen before the challenge to the new health care law ever makes its way to the Supreme Court. But at least one person who has some say over the high court’s docket said on Thursday that he could envision it ending up there.

Justice Stephen Breyer told a congressional panel on Thursday that that the Supreme Court is likely to end up having the final word on the constitutionality of the law. Click here for the story, from the AP; here for all previous LB coverage of the health-care litigation.

On Thursday, Breyer also said the court would start taking more cases than it has in recent years.

“I’d predict that three, four years from today, no one’s going to ask us again why we have so few cases,” Breyer said. Justice Clarence Thomas, who also testified on Thursday, said that the court’s caseload depends largely on how active Congress is in passing legislation. “Until recently, there hasn’t been comprehensive legislation of the kind that would fill our docket,” Thomas said.

Lawmakers also asked about allowing cameras in the courtroom. Breyer, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing it. He said he thinks the public’s understanding of the court would go up if they could follow arguments on television.

It was during this exchange that Justice Thomas lightened the mood a bit. Rep. Jose Serrano, (D-NY), said he worries that commentators might use court coverage to launch broadsides against the justices. “Did you hear Breyer? What a jerk. Did you hear Thomas?” Serrano said.

“You mean, didn’t hear me,” Thomas said, referring to his habit of not asking questions from the bench during oral argument.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).