5th Circuit Defy Obama; Assign Homework

President Obama blasted the Supreme Court yesterday, defying them to strike down Obamacare. He accused them of being an “unelected body” and said that overturning Obamacare would be “judicial activism,” and an “unprecedented act.” Never mind that the courts have been overturning unconstitutional laws for over 200 years. So the 5th circuit court of appeals, as a giant middle finger to Obama, assigned Federal lawyers, arguing for a separate Obamacare lawsuit, to write a 3 page single spaced letter to either affirm or deny that the United States Courts still have the power of judicial review. Wow.

From a scathing CBS here:

a federal appeals court apparently is calling the president’s bluff — ordering the Justice Department to answer by Thursday whether the Obama Administration believes that the courts have the right to strike down a federal law, according to a lawyer who was in the courtroom.

The order, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, appears to be in direct response to the president’s comments yesterday about the Supreme Court’s review of the health care law. Mr. Obama all but threw down the gauntlet with the justices, saying he was “confident” the Court would not “take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.”

Overturning a law of course would not be unprecedented — since the Supreme Court since 1803 has asserted the power to strike down laws it interprets as unconstitutional. The three-judge appellate court appears to be asking the administration to admit that basic premise — despite the president’s remarks that implied the contrary. The panel ordered the Justice Department to submit a three-page, single-spaced letter by noon Thursday addressing whether the Executive Branch believes courts have such power.

Unbelievable! The President and the DOJ are not above the law, and the courts are going to get it in writing. And while it is awe-inspiring to see judges going to the mat over the Constitution, it is equally appalling to see Obama and his legal toadies trying to sidestep that same document.

Thanks to:

Professor Who? Federal Appeals Court Schools Obama on Constitutional Law: Now it’s a duel. A federal appeals cou… bit.ly/Hnht8s

— Big Government (@biggovt) April 4, 2012