Monday round-up

AMY HOWE FEB 17, 2014 9:21 AM

With the Court still in recess, some commentary on the Court focuses on the upcoming arguments in the challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, which are now only a little over a month away.  At Balkinization, Marty Lederman discusses the briefs filed recently by Hobby Lobby and the federal government, highlighting both “one important common ground . . . [and] one fundamental difference” in the parties’ positions.  And in an op-ed for The Hill, Dorinda Bordlee – who filed an amicus brief in support of the challengers in the case – criticizes another amicus brief (which Lyle covered for this blog) which contends that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is unconstitutional, suggesting that the argument “is ultimately a distraction.” 

Briefly:

• At UPI, Michael Kirkland reports that “[a] petition that would undo some of the effects of Citizens United vs. FEC has languished without action at the Securities and Exchange Commission for more than two years while the same narrow U.S. Supreme Court majority that produced Citizens United appears ready to loosen campaign finance rules even further.”
• The Associated Press reports on FantasySCOTUS, an online Supreme Court fantasy league.
• At his more than twenty cents blog (here and here), Andrew Suszek continues his “coffeehouse conversation” (which we covered in last week’s round-up) between the lawyers involved in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, the challenge to Michigan’s ban on the use of affirmative action at public universities.

Send us your links!  Since last summer, we have relied on our readers to send us links to articles, blog posts, and commentary on the Court.  If you have a link that you would like us to consider for inclusion in the round-up, please send it to roundup@scotusblog.com.  Thank you! 

Disclosure: Kevin Russell of Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, is among the counsel on an amicus brief in support of the respondents.

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