No published opinions from either the Ninth Circuit or the California appellate courts (thus far) today. So I'll go ahead and mention another case from yesterday. This one.
You know it's a big ticket appeal when the caption page and list of counsel and amici spans the first thirteen (single-spaced) pages of the opinion. And big ticket it is. As the opening paragraph of the majority opinion accurately states the issue:
"The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the regulations
implementing it require group health plans to cover
contraceptive care without cost sharing. Federal agencies
issued final rules exempting employers with religious and
moral objections from this requirement. The district court
issued a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of
the rules in several states. We have jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. § 1292, and we affirm."
Perhaps that's not a surprising result. Particularly -- according to some -- from the "liberal" Ninth Circuit.
But, in that regard, let me point out that the author of the majority opinion is . . . Judge Wallace. A jurist who's about as far from a "snowflake liberal" as you can get.
So a long opinion upholding part of the ACA and striking down an attempt to roll it back. A high-profile opinion with a ton of interest.
