As I watch the President jerk around with his "signature accomplishment" once more, I wondered if there is anything the Supreme Court can do to strike down/void the law now. Is it required for a case to run its way throught the court system?
Thanks
Pretty much yes. In fact, as of now, it would have to wait at least a year for the case to be filed-- after the "tax" has been collected (it's not officially collected until this year's taxes are filed, next April) under the Anti-Injunction Act.
The strongest case, though-- the head tax/minimum penalty issue-- doesn't effectively kick in until later, when the minimum penalty starts to affect a good chunk of lower income people (the penalty for the 2014 tax year is so low that you would have to be making less than $9500 a year-- dirt poor, really-- to trigger the minimum, and those people generally don't have lawyers).
There are some things that can be addressed right now (such as the pending cases regarding the contraception mandate) and by no means is the door closed on the court avenue, but it is going to be a few years.
I just hope and pray the conservatives on the courts hold on. They aren't getting any younger.