WINSTON-SALEM (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing from a Washington lawyer with North Carolina roots it picked as the devil’s advocate on the first day of hearings on the health care reform law.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports the Supreme Court asked Robert Long to argue a legal point that neither the Obama administration nor the law’s challengers think applies.
The issue is whether courts must wait until after the law’s individual mandate and accompanying penalties take effect in 2015 before considering the law.
The high court appointed Long to argue reasons why courts must wait a few years before ruling whether the law can require everyone to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
Long is a graduate of Reynolds High School and was a Morehead Scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill.