by Art Lien | Mar 28, 2012 | Arguments, Supreme Court
I’m pretty much cross-eyed after three days of sketching the Supreme Court’s health care argument marathon, so I’ll just post today’s drawings with brief captions.
Paul Clement, shown above, begins his argument on severability.
Justice Scalia needles Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Smiley Kneedler.
Justice Breyer brandishes portions of the Affordable Care Act.
Clement makes his argument on Medicaid Expansion.
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli had a better day today, but too late?
Lyle Denniston’s recap of the arguments on severability is here.
And Lyle’s recap of the Medicaid arguments is here.
by Art Lien | Mar 27, 2012 | Arguments, Supreme Court
It was hard going for Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, pictured above and below, as a majority of the Justices expressed skepticism about about the individual mandate provision of the new health care law. 
Former Solicitior General Paul Clement, now representing the challengers to the Affordable Care Act, appeared to win today’s round. 
Round three tomorrow.
Mike Sacks has it covered here.
by Art Lien | Mar 26, 2012 | Arguments, Supreme Court
The first issue before the Court was the Anti-Injunction Act of 1867 which says that you can’t challenge a tax until it’s been collected. Under the new Affordable Care Act if you don’t have health insurance you pay a penalty, and because that penalty is assessed depending upon your income and is collected by the IRS it could be seen as a tax. And since that tax has yet to be collected an appeal is premature, a position neither side is claiming and so the Court appointed Washington lawyer Robert A. Long, pictured below, to play devil’s advocate, or more properly amicus curiae. 
Lyle Denniston’s take on today’s arguments here.
by Art Lien | Mar 23, 2012 | Arguments, History, Supreme Court
One of the nation’s greatest civil rights attorneys NAACP Legal Defense Fund president John Payton passed away yesterday. 
He is shown here arguing before the Supreme Court in Gratz v. Bollinger, April 1, 2003.
In Memoriam
by Art Lien | Mar 20, 2012 | Arguments, Opinions, Supreme Court
A couple of sketches from today at the Supreme Court :
The Court heard arguments in two cases where juveniles were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Both prisoners were very ably represented by Bryan Stevenson, pictured above.
The Court also announced opinions in four cases. Pictured below, clockwise from the bottom right, are Justice Sotomayor, Justice Breyer, Justice Kennedy and Justice Ginsburg reading her dissent in Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland. 
Courtartist is me, Arthur Lien. I've been sketching the courts since 1976, and for most of that time the U.S. Supreme Court has been my regular beat. I've been working almost exclusively for NBC News since 1980.