Singer Chris Brown appeared before a Washington judge Wednesday along with his bodyguard Christopher Hollosy, facing assault charges stemming from an incident outside the W hotel in October 2013.
Brown and Hollosy were offered plea deals which would charge each of them with only one count of simple assault. But since video surveillance from the incident still hasn't been entered into evidence, and Brown's bodyguard is only facing one count of assault to begin with, lawyers for Brown and Hollosy said they are rejecting the current plea deal at this time.
Both sides agreed to meet again on February 20. That would give both legal teams ample time to review the evidence once it is available and negotiate a possible plea deal.
Brown's lawyers have requested a waiver of appearance for him for the February court date, citing the singer's current enrollment in rehab for anger management. To appear in court would cause Brown to miss up to three days of treatment, his lawyers argued, delaying his completion of the program.
Brown faces 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 if convicted in Washington, but the singer's real legal troubles are in California. Brown has been on probation for charges stemming from 2009, when he brutally attacked his then-girlfriend Rihanna.
A judge in California recently revoked Brown's probation, but since Brown was already in a treatment program for anger management and completing his community service requirements, it had limited immediate effect.
The charges against Brown in Washington could influence the judge's decision on whether or not the R&B sensation has to serve jail time once he completes his rehabilitation.
His next court date in California is set for February 10, presumably before his legal woes in Washington will be settled.
A gunman barged into a crowded suburban Denver theater during a sold-out midnight screening of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," hurled a gas canister and opened fire, killing 12 and injuring 58.
The number of casualties makes the incident the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.
The suspected gunman was identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, a native of San Diego. Investigators were confident he acted alone and were not looking for any other suspects.
There was no immediate word of any motive.
Holmes is a PhD student who recently withdrew from his neuroscience studies at the University of Colorado. He grew up in San Diego and attended high school there before moving to the Inland Empire, where he graduated from UC Riverside in spring 2010 with a degree in neuroscience. Riverside officials said he had no history of arrest while he lived in the city from 2006 to 2010.
The shooting began around 12:30 a.m. MT Friday at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center, during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." It was initially reported that 14 people were killed, but Aurora police revised that figure following further investigation. There were 70 people shot - 10 people were declared dead at the scene, two died at a local hospital and 58 people were injured.
Emergency room doctors at an area hospital confirmed that a 4-month-old was among the victims treated and released. Most of the victims were injured by gunfire but a "handful" during the ensuing chaos, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said. One person was hit in an adjacent theater. Eleven patients remained in critical condition Friday night, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said during a 7 p.m. MT news conference.
Authorities had removed all the bodies from the theater by around 5 p.m. MT, and the coroner's office was expected to notify family members around 8 p.m. MT after the deceased are identified.
According to ABC News, Holmes bought a ticket to the movie and went into the theater as part of the crowd. After the movie started, he left through an emergency exit and propped open the door. That's when he geared up and re-entered the theater, tossed the gas canister and began shooting.
Holmes was dressed all in black and was wearing a ballistic helmet, a gas mask, ballistic gloves, a bullet-resistant tactical vest and leggings, and throat and groin protection. A witness told ABC News that it all happened during a shooting scene in the movie, leading moviegoers to believe it was some sort of stunt for the film.
"It took me a second to realize what was actually going on," said moviegoer Donovan Tate. "And as people were running away, I hit the ground so I wouldn't be hit."
"I see a guy next to me, a gentleman sitting right next to me getting shot, and then that's when I realized that this is not part of the movie, there's a gunman and he's shooting everyone," said witness Chris Ramos.
Holmes then slowly made his way up and down the theater aisles, shooting at random people - only stopping to reload.
"He ended up shooting people behind me and the bullet casings were just on my forehead, they were burning, I just smelled gunshots," witness Jennifer Seeger told "Good Morning America."
"All I could think was if I stand up he's going to shoot because that's what he was doing, and I was just trying to think how I was going to get my kids out of there," Patricia Legarreta said through tears.
Holmes was apprehended within minutes of the shooting at his white Hyundai parked behind the theater. He did not resist arrest.
He was carrying three weapons, including a .223 caliber Smith & Wesson assault rifle equipped with a drum magazine, which can hold upwards of 100 rounds, a Remington 12 gauge shot gun, and a .40 Glock handgun. A fourth handgun was found in the vehicle. ABC news confirmed that they were all purchased legally.
According to police sources, Holmes told arresting officers that he was "The Joker." He also spoke of possible explosives in his home. Investigators rushed to the apartment complex, which was quickly evacuated, as well as four other surrounding buildings. Police say the apartment was booby-trapped and loaded with incendiaries and small improvised explosive devices. The ATF has not yet decided how to proceed without setting off explosions.
"The pictures we have from inside the apartment are pretty disturbing considering how elaborate the apartment is booby trapped," police said outside of the apartment complex today. The "flammable and explosive" materials could have blown up Holmes' apartment building and the ones near it, police said.
The apartment complex is home exclusively to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and staff members, residents told ABC News.
The U.S. Department of Defense said three members of the U.S. Armed Forces were wounded in the shooting and one is unaccounted for. One Navy sailor was injured by shrapnel, treated and released. Another sailor, known to have been at the theater, is currently unaccounted for. The sailors are part of a Navy Cyber Command unit at nearby Buckley Air Force base. Two Air Force airmen were also wounded.
The third installment of the Batman trilogy opened to packed auditoriums around the country at midnight showings and features a villain named Bane who wears a bullet-resistant vest and gas mask. Trailers for the movie show explosions at public events including a football game. Though many moviegoers dressed in costume to attend the opening night screening, police have made no statements about any connection between the gunman's motives and the movie.
The Paris premiere of the movie has been canceled following news of the shooting, and director Christopher Nolan and cast members Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway and Morgan Freeman have also canceled their press interviews.
President Barack Obama addressed the tragedy in remarks in Ft. Myers, Fla. Mr. Obama canceled his Friday campaign event in light of the Colorado shooting and returned to Washington to be briefed.
The president released a statement saying he is "shocked and saddened" by the deadly shooting and urged the nation to "come together as one American family." He said he and first lady Michelle Obama were shocked by the "horrific and tragic" shooting and that his administration will do everything to support the people of Aurora, Colo.
The FBI said there is no indication that the shooting has any connection to terrorism.
A San Diego woman identifying herself as Holmes' mother spoke briefly with ABC News. She had not been contacted by authorities, but when she first heard the news, she immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved.
"You have the right person," she said, speaking on gut instinct. "I need to call the police. I need to fly out to Colorado."
A neighbor who attended high school with Holmes described him as very smart but didn't really stand out otherwise. Holmes' father Robert was seen leaving his home in the Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood in San Diego with bags packed. Reporters caught up with him at the airport, but he did not have any comment about the incident.
Holmes' family members issued a statement Friday saying their "hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved" and that they are cooperating with authorities in San Diego and Aurora.
Aurora is located about 10 miles from downtown Denver.
The 24-year-old accused of shooting 71 people early Friday morning was a former honor student and recent graduate school dropout who apparently booby trapped his apartment and left the stereo blaring non-stop techno music before he headed to the local movie theater where police say he killed 12 people.
James Eagan Holmes of 1690 Paris Street surrendered to police in the parking lot outside the theater "without any significant incident," Aurora police Chief Dan Oates said.
Oates said Holmes made a statement to officers about possible explosives in his home. That prompted police to evacuate five buildings nearby and begin searching his third-floor apartment using a police robot and camera attached to a long pole.
Inside, officers found trip wires attached to 1-liter plastic bottles that contain an unknown substance.
Police Chief Dan Oates said the explosive devices were "pretty sophisticated." "We could be here for days," he said at midday.
Holmes grew up in San Diego and graduated from Westview High School there in 2006. In 2010, he earned a degree in neuroscience from the University of California Riverside, a spokeswoman for the university said.
Chancellor Timothy White said Holmes distinguished himself academically, graduating with highest honors, but that he did not walk at his commencement ceremony. "Academically, he was the top of the top," White said.
The Mai family has lived next door to the Holmes family for abut 15 years on a middle-class street in suburban San Diego.
Christine Mai, 17, said she never saw James Holmes act violent or inappropriately.
She never knew him or his family to have weapons or any conflicts.
He grew up with a younger sister who plays guitar and attends San Diego State University.
Christine Mai said Holmes' father went to Colorado to be with his son and his mother was holed up inside her home and didn't want to have any visitors.
Dozens of reporters were camped outside the house.
The Holmes had Christmas parties in their front yard and often exchanged gifts with the Mai family, she said. Last year, they shared hot apple cider in the front yard with other neighbors.
"He seemed like a nice guy," she said. "His mother used to tell us he was a good son."
Holmes left home to attend UCR, but returned home after graduation and had a hard time finding work. He took a part-time job at a nearby McDonald's to pay for school, she said.
"He didn't have a job,"she said. "I felt bad for him because he studied so hard. My brother said he looked kind of down, he seemed depressed."
Christine Mai and her father, Tom said they never saw Holmes socializing
with friends, partying at his house or with any girlfriends.
"James was nice and quiet," Tom Mai said. "He was studious, he cut the grass, and cleaned the car. He was very bright."
Julie Adams said her son played soccer with Holmes at Westview High. Holmes played his freshman and sophomore year, she said.
While most of the other kids — her son Taylor included — played league soccer and continues the sport throughout high school, Holmes wasn't as involved, she said.
"I could tell you a lot about every single kid on that team except for him," Adams said. "He was more aloof."
She was shocked to discover this morning that the helicopters were circling her San Diego neighborhood because Holmes' alleged rampage.
"Taylor remembers playing soccer with him. He said he was quiet, reserved and a respectful kid," Adams said.
According to her son's yearbook, Holmes also ran cross country as a freshman but did not continue the sport.
Holmes enrolled in the graduate program in neurosciences at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora in June 2011 but was in the process of withdrawing, university spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said Friday.
In an e-mail message to members of the campus community, Doug Abraham, Chief of Police for the university, said Holmes left the school in June and his access to campus buildings was terminated while his withdrawal was being processed. He said officials do not believe
Holmes had been on campus since then, but authorities evacuated non-essential personnel from the research buildings as a precautionary measure while they wait for bomb-sniffing dogs to do a search of the buildings "to add another level of assurance."
In an apartment rental application he submitted for a different apartment early last year, Holmes described himself as a "quiet and easy-going" student. Other tenants in his building — which is reserved for students, faculty and staff of the medical campus — described him as a recluse.
A pharmacy student who also lives in the building told The Post he called 911 around 12:30 a.m. because there was a song blaring from the stereo inside apartment 10, where Holmes lived.
The student, who wanted to be identified only as Ben, said he couldn't make out the song but that it seemed to be playing on repeat.
Kaitlyn Fonzi, a 20-year-old biology student at University of Colorado Denver, lives in an apartment below Holmes.
Around midnight, Fonzi said she heard techno music blasting from Holmes apartment.
She went upstairs and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she put her hand on the door knob and realized the door was unlocked.
Fonzi decided not to go inside the apartment.
The music turned off at almost exactly 1 a.m., Fonzi said.
Police received several reports of the shooting at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center around 12:39 a.m. Witnesses told police that a man entered the dark, packed theater and opened fire after throwing two smoke canisters.
Oates said he was dressed in black and wearing a ballistic helmet and vest, ballistic leggings, throat and groin protector and gas mask and black tactical gloves. He was armed with three weapons.
NBC News said law enforcement officials told them the weapons were bought from local stores of two national chains — Gander Mountain Guns and Bass Pro Shop — beginning in May.
His neighbors in Aurora said he kept to himself and wouldn't acknowledge people when they passed in the hall and said hello.
"No one knew him. No one," one man said.
Fonzi said Holmes seemed normal and studious.
The maintenance person at Holmes' last apartment in Riverside remembered Holmes much the same way.
Jose Torres,45, said he didn't remember Holmes having a roommate and said he wasn't social. Torres gasped when he realized Holmes was the accused shooter in Colorado.
"He did not talk too much," Torres said after looking at a photograph of Holmes. "He don't say hi. He was just quiet with no problems."
When told of the booby traps authorities found in Holmes' apartment in Aurora, Torres appeared shocked.
"He didn't destroy this apartment when he left," Torres said. "When he left it was in good condition."
Authorities began searching Holmes' Aurora apartment building around 2 a.m.
A resident of the building who didn't want to give his name said he answered his door to see police with rifles. An officer asked if he had seen a white guy with crazy hair, possibly dyed unnatural colors, the man said.
It was unclear if the officer was referring to Holmes.
Wes Bradshaw and his mother Lavonne watched the search of the third-floor apartment from their apartment, they said. The two watched a police robot enter the building right before they heard a small explosion.
The two, along with the rest of the building's tenants, were ordered to evacuate soon after, they said.
Residents of the area were huddled on street corners waiting for news. Police at the scene told them it could be hours before they are allowed to return to their homes.
About 6:30 a.m., three police officers on a fire truck bucket were looking through the window of the third-floor apartment and taking pictures.
Using a long pole, responders broke into the window from the basket atop a ladder truck.
Aurora Deputy Fire Chief Chris Henderson said authorities could see several "string-like contraptions" inside.
"We're not sure exactly where they connect to," Henderson said.
Jim Yacone, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI, said they were working on "how to disarm the flammable or explosive material."
Neighbors in a fourth-floor apartment one building had a bird's eye view of the suspect's apartment.
They said the curtains are usually closed and they never see any movement inside the apartment.
Even at night, there are no lights or anything in that apartment, said Yesenia Lujan, 24, who has lived in her apartment for seven months.
Using a camera with a zoom lens, Lujan's roommate said he could see into the suspect's kitchen, where a poster of Will Farrell in the movie "Anchorman" was hanging on the wall.
Holmes is scheduled to appear in court in Arapahoe County on Monday morning.
The suspect in a shooting that killed or wounded 71 people early Friday in a suburban Denver movie theater is not talking to investigators, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in discussing the ongoing case. The person also said police found jars of chemicals in James Holmes' booby trapped Aurora apartment with wires nearby. Those who knew the 24-year-old describe him as a shy, intelligent person raised in California by parents who were active in their well-to-do suburban neighborhood.
Holmes, who was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program in Colorado, grew up in San Diego, where his parents still live on a quiet, street of two-story homes with red tile roofs. He played soccer at Westview High School and ran cross country before going to college.
Neighbors say the family belonged to a Presbyterian church and hosted a Christmas party for residents. Many families choose the San Diego neighborhood because it is part of the well-regarded Poway Unified School District, one of the best in California. On Friday morning, police escorted the suspect's father, a manager of a software company, from their San Diego home. The mother, a nurse, stayed inside, receiving family visitors who came to offer support. The suspect also has a younger sister.
San Diego police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown, spoke to reporters in the driveway of the Holmes' home, on behalf of the family.
"As you can understand, the Holmes family is very upset about all of this," she said. "It's a tragic event and it's taken everyone by surprise. They are definitely trying to work through this."
The family in a written statement said "our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time."
Police in Colorado said Holmes fired into a crowded movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora while wearing a gas mask, killing 12 people and wounding 59 others. He was in police custody in Colorado and the FBI said there was no indication the attack was tied to any terrorist groups.
There have been no indications so far that Holmes had any run-ins with the law before Friday. San Diego Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton said there were no records found under his name, not even for a traffic ticket. Riverside County prosecutors also have no criminal record for him, said John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney's office.
A furniture mover who lives several blocks from the suspect's Aurora apartment building said he shared a beer with him Tuesday at a neighborhood bar where they talked about Denver Bronco Peyton Manning.
Jackie Mitchell said he recognized Holmes' photo on television as the guy he met at the bar. He described him as smart with a "swagger."
"We just talked about football. He had a backpack and geeky classes and seemed like a real intelligent guy and I figured he was one of the college students," he said.
There was no reference made to a planned shooting, Mitchell said.
Anthony Mai, a 16-year-old who grew up next door to Holmes, said Holmes largely kept to himself but his behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.
"He felt a little bit concealed, but it wasn't too much. It was alright" he said. "This is just a feeling in my gut, but I felt like he had something, like he was being picked on or something."
His father, Tom Mai, a retired electrical engineer, said he was a "shy guy" who came from a "very, very nice family."
Rose To said the Holmes family set up chairs in their garage for the Christmas party a few years ago, giving neighbors a chance to mingle.
"They were really nice people, good neighbors," she said.
Mai said the mother told him the suspect couldn't find a job after earning a master's degree from a University of California school and so went back for another degree.
Holmes graduated from University of California, Riverside, in the spring of 2010 with a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience, said university spokesman Sean Nealon. No other details were immediately available about his life on campus, Nealon said.
In 2011, Holmes enrolled in the Ph.D. neuroscience program at the University of Colorado-Denver but was in the process of withdrawing, said spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. University officials earlier said he was a student at the university's medical school.
This includes the Mandatory Coverage provision which allows the Federal Government to Penalize Citizens who Refuse to purchase Health Care Insurance or who Refuse to Enroll in any kind of Health Care Insurance program, not excluding Medicaid & Medicare.
Many U.S. Presidents have tried however only one Truly Succeeded in Reforming our nation's Health Care Insurance System FOREVER.
Is it a Perfect Law?
Of Course Not!
However Perfect should NEVER be the enemy of what is Good.
Thus the Affordable Health Care Act is a Good Law which not only allows Children/ Dependents to remain on their Parents' Health Care Insurance plans until the age of 26, but also prohibits Health Care Insurance Companies from Denying Citizens the right for Coverage due to Pre-Existing Conditions.
The Affordable Health Care Act will Also help Create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs in the Health Care Industry.
And......
Most Importantly it will ultimately within the next 3 years Lower Health Care Insurance Premiums, allowing more Uninsured people to have Health Care Insurance Coverage versus using Hospital Emergency Rooms to receive Medical Care.
What about the PEOPLE who Elected them into Public Office?
What about the Millions of Uninsured, Underinsured, Sick people who will benefit from this ruling?
Don't they matter?
Apparently NOT!
Because Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, John Boehner & Michelle Bachmann are planning to use ALL of their Political Capital and more Taxpayer Money to Repeal the Affordable Health Care Act i.e,., "Obamacare".
GOP Leaders have now launched a Tax Mandate/ Repeal "Obamacare" Campaign to Defeat Pres. Obama this Fall and Completely Ignore the recent SCOTUS ruling of his Affordable Health Care Act.
This is So Sad!
Thus Regardless of whom this GOP Repeal Effort will harm (American Voters), GOP Leaders are Hell-bent on making the Affordable Health Care Act Obsolete.
Regardless of the fact that Mitt Romney created the Original Blue Print for the Affordable Health Care Act via "Romneycare", GOP Leaders are Laser-Focused on Obliterating "Obamacare".
By the way "Romneycare"has been Very Successful in the State of Massachusetts, with more than 98% of the Population in that State being Properly Insured and the Health Care Insurance Premiums more Affordable than in other states.
Regardless of the Hundreds of Thousands of Health Care Industry JOBS that will be
Destroyed, GOP Leaders are Determined to wipe the Affordable Health Care Act off the Face of this Earth.
Why?
Because Most GOP Leaders are using the Affordable Health Care Act to hide behind RACISM.
They HATE Pres. Obama and Everything he stands for due to him being a BLACK Leader.
If Mitt Romney or George W. Bush had Passed Comprehensive Health Care Legislation, everyone of those GOP Leaders currently Opposing the Affordable Health Care Act would be 100% on board with Romney or Bush.
However because a BLACK Man passed this Important, Necessary Legislation (FOR THE PEOPLE), GOP Leaders are now Wroth with HATE.
And since the Affordable Health Care Act is Pres. Obama's Signature Legislation, the ONLY way those GOP Leaders can Eliminate his Complete Existence & Legacy is to Repeal that Law.
Please correct me if I'm Wrong but since the SCOTUS has already ruled the Affordable Health Care Act to be Constitutional and LEGAL, I don't see how GOP Leaders can Ignore this Law or Repeal it.
So they have instead decided to LIE to Voters for Political Gain by attacking Justice John Roberts a Republican, launch a Massive Repeal "Obamacare" Campaign & Encourage Hospitals and Doctors to Largely Ignore the SCOTUS Health Care Law Ruling.
This is CRAZY!
I've often said that Racism makes people STUPID & Crazy, now I know its True.
It doesn't matter if Pres. Obama attempts to pass Financial Industry Reform, Comprehensive Education Reform, Student Loan Reform, Health Care Insurance Reform, Criminal Justice System Reform, Comprehensive Tax Reform, Affordable Housing Reform, Small Business Reform, Elderly Care Reform, Wall Street Reform, Tort Reform, Employment Discrimination Reform, etc.,
Whatever type of Meaningful Legislation Pres. Obama attempts to Pass, he will ALWAYS be blind-sided by Severe Political Opposition from some RACIST GOP & Democrat Leaders.
So what can the Democrats & Pres. Obama's Re-election team do to Diminish what GOP Leaders are plotting against the Affordable Health Care Act?
Democrats & Pres. Obama's Re-election team Need to Launch a Major Campaign to Educate the American People on ALL the Good, Effective Components & Provisions included within "Obamacare".
Educate the American VOTERS about why Justice John Roberts a True Conservative, decided to cast his Vote with the Court's so-called "Liberal" Justices.
Justice Roberts cast his Vote alongside Justice Kagan and Justice Sotomayor because the Affordable Health Care Act is Effective, Constitutional Legislation that will HELP All American Citizens including Many Children, have Access to Affordable, Quality Health Care without being Denied Coverage by Greedy Health Insurance Monopolies who previously used Pre-Existing Conditions to NOT Provide Insurance.
Democrats & Pres. Obama's Re-election team MUST Broadcast the Benefits of the Affordable Health Care Act from all 4 Corners of American Soil.
NORTH, SOUTH, EAST & WEST!!!!
Broadcast those Benefits Non-Stop from Now until the November Election!!
On June 28, 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Health Care Act to be CONSTITUTIONAL.
The Supreme Court’s decision upholding virtually all of the health care reform law (with the exception of a provision on Medicaid that does not really have much practical impact) is a great development, first of all, for Americans. The Affordable Care Act will provide insurance for tens of millions of working people and it will eventually help rationalize and bring down the costs of health care for everyone. This is a huge victory for President Obama at a critical time and a big loss for the right.
The decision also says a lot about Chief Justice John Roberts, who was on the verge of writing himself a reputation after seven years in office as a highly partisan player who was using see-saw majorities to further not just a conservative judicial philosophy but also the broad aims of the neo-conservative wing of the Republican Party.
This week began, however, with Chief Justice Roberts joining the majority in striking down most of Arizona’s immigration law and strongly reaffirming the power of the federal government to make immigration policy as part of its overall power to make foreign and national security policy.
Today, Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion upholding the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, including the individual mandate to buy health insurance. It’s true that he rejected the government’s commerce clause defense—that it can impose a mandate under its power to regulate interstate commerce. With this reasoning, he arguably weakened the Commerce Clause itself, which has been the foundation of so many important laws and court rulings in the modern era, including those guaranteeing all Americans’ civil rights.
The Chief Justice made it clear from the start, in his testimony at his confirmation hearing, that he would apply a rigorous test for Commerce Clause arguments. “It’s not a question of abstract fact,” he said, “does this affect interstate commerce or not, but has this body, the Congress, demonstrated the impact on interstate commerce that drove them to legislate.”
That part of the ruling could, in the long run, prove even more significant than upholding the health care reform law. But the health care ruling still was momentous, and it’s clear that Chief Justice Roberts was instrumental in making that happen. He did so by taking a relatively refined view: The requirement that all Americans buy health insurance is not really a mandate at all, but a tax, and is therefore constitutional since Congress clearly has the power to tax and spend.
As Scotusblog noted this morning, “That is the way Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., was willing to vote for it, and his view prevailed. The other Justices split 4-4, with four wanting to uphold it as a mandate, and four opposed to it in any form.”
Chief Justice Roberts could have chosen to ignore that narrow way out and joined the four right-wing judges in striking down the entire law – an act of judicial recklessness that would have been read as an endorsement of Mr. Romney’s presidential candidacy. As it is, the Chief justice could hardly be accused of throwing his support to Mr. Obama.
This is going to be hard for right-wingers to swallow, since Chief Justice Roberts was their great standard bearer for conservative judicial and political thought and against “judicial activism.” But he has enhanced, in no small way, the reputation of a court whose standing has suffered greatly since Bush v Gore.
The next step for the right is to try to repeal the health care law through the legislative process. Only about an hour after the Court’s decision was announced, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor scheduled a vote for July 11.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld President Obama’s health care overhaul law, saying its requirement that most Americans obtain insurance or pay a penalty was authorized by Congress’s power to levy taxes. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four more liberal members.
The decision was a victory for Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats, affirming the central legislative achievement of Mr. Obama’s presidency.
“The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.”
At the same time, the court rejected the argument that the administration had pressed most vigorously in support of the law, that its individual mandate was justified by Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. The vote was again 5 to 4, but in this instance Chief Justice Roberts and the court’s four more conservative members were in agreement.
The court also substantially limited the law’s expansion of Medicaid, the joint federal-state program that provides health care to poor and disabled people. Seven justices agreed that Congress had exceeded its constitutional authority by coercing states into participating in the expansion by threatening them with the loss of existing federal payments.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who had been thought to be the administration’s best hope to provide a fifth vote to uphold the law, joined three more conservative members in an unusual jointly written dissent that said the court should have struck down the entire law. The majority’s approach, he said from the bench, “amounts to a vast judicial overreaching.”
The court’s ruling was the most significant federalism decision since the New Deal and the most closely watched case since Bush v. Gore in 2000. It was a crucial milestone for the law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, allowing almost all — and perhaps, in the end, all — of its far-reaching changes to roll forward.
Mr. Obama welcomed the court’s decision on the health care law, which has inspired fierce protests, legal challenges and vows of repeal since it was passed. “Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives are more secure because of this law,” he said at the White House.
Republicans, though, used the occasion to attack it again.
“Obamacare was bad policy yesterday; it’s bad policy today,” Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said in remarks near the Capitol. “Obamacare was bad law yesterday; it’s bad law today.” He, like Congressional Republicans, renewed his pledge to undo the law.
The historic decision, coming after three days of lively oral arguments in March and in the midst of a presidential campaign, drew intense attention across the nation. Outside the court, more than 1,000 people gathered — packing the sidewalk, playing music, chanting slogans — and a loud cheer went up as word spread that the law had been largely upheld. Chants of “Yes we can!” rang out, but the ruling also provoked disappointment among Tea Party supporters.
In Loudoun County, Va., Angela Laws, 58, the owner of a cleaning service, said she and her fiancé were relieved at the news. “We laughed, and we shouted with joy and hugged each other,” she said, explaining that she had been unable to get insurance because of her diabetes and back problems until a provision in the health care law went into effect.
After months of uncertainty about the law’s fate, the court’s ruling provides some clarity — and perhaps an alert — to states, insurers, employers and consumers about what they are required to do by 2014, when much of the law comes into force.
The Obama administration had argued that the mandate was necessary because it allowed other provisions of the law to function: those overhauling the way insurance is sold and those preventing sick people from being denied or charged extra for insurance. The mandate’s supporters had said it was necessary to ensure that not only sick people but also healthy individuals would sign up for coverage, keeping insurance premiums more affordable.
Conservatives took comfort from two parts of the decision: the new limits it placed on federal regulation of commerce and on the conditions the federal government may impose on money it gives the states.
Five justices accepted the argument that had been at the heart of the challenges brought by 26 states and other plaintiffs: that the federal government is not permitted to force individuals not engaged in commercial activities to buy services they do not want. That was a stunning victory for a theory pressed by a small band of conservative and libertarian lawyers. Most members of the legal academy view the theory as misguided,if not frivolous.
“To an economist, perhaps, there is no difference between activity and inactivity; both have measurable economic effects on commerce,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote. “But the distinction between doing something and doing nothing would not have been lost on the framers, who were practical statesmen, not metaphysical philosophers.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an opinion joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, dissented on this point, calling the view “stunningly retrogressive.” She wondered why Chief Justice Roberts had seen fit to address it at all in light of his vote to uphold the mandate under the tax power.
Akhil Reed Amar, a Yale law professor and a champion of the health care law, said that it was “important to look at the dark cloud behind the silver lining.”
“Federal power has more restrictions on it,” he said, referring to the new limits on regulating commerce. “Going forward, there may even be laws on the books that have to be re-examined.”
The restrictions placed on the Medicaid expansion may also have significant ripple effects. A splintered group of justices effectively revised the law to allow states to choose between participating in the expansion while receiving additional payments or forgoing the expansion and retaining the existing payments. The law had called for an all-or-nothing choice.
The expansion had been designed to provide coverage to 17 million Americans. While some states have indicated that they will participate in the expansion, others may be resistant, leaving more people outside the safety net than the Obama administration had intended.
Although the decision did not turn on it, the back-and-forth between Justice Ginsburg’s opinion for the four liberals and the joint opinion by the four conservatives — Justice Kennedy and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — revisited the by-now-familiar arguments. Broccoli made a dozen appearances.
“Although an individual might buy a car or a crown of broccoli one day, there is no certainty she will ever do so,” Justice Ginsburg wrote. “And if she eventually wants a car or has a craving for broccoli, she will be obliged to pay at the counter before receiving the vehicle or nourishment. She will get no free ride or food, at the expense of another consumer forced to pay an inflated price.”
The conservative dissenters responded that “one day the failure of some of the public to purchase American cars may endanger the existence of domestic automobile manufacturers; or the failure of some to eat broccoli may be found to deprive them of a newly discovered cancer-fighting chemical which only that food contains, producing health care costs that are a burden on the rest of us.”
All of the justices agreed that their review of the health care law was not barred by the Anti-Injunction Act, which allows suits over some sorts of taxes only after they become due. That could have delayed the health care challenge to 2015. The conservative dissenters said that the majority could not have it both ways by calling the mandate a tax for some purposes but not others.
“That carries verbal wizardry too far, deep into the forbidden land of sophists,” they said.
As a general matter, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the decision in the case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, No. 11-393, offered no endorsement of the law’s wisdom.
Some decisions, the chief justice said, “are entrusted to our nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them.”
Justice Ginsburg, speaking to a crowded courtroom that sat rapt for the better part of an hour, drew a different conclusion.
“In the end,” she said, “the Affordable Care Act survives largely unscathed.”
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