On Monday 26 March 2012, the Supreme Court began hearing five-and-one-half hours of oral argument over three days in the cases challenging the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act. The Court made audio tapes and transcripts of oral arguments available “as soon as the digital files are available for uploading to the Website”: No later than 2PM on 26 and 27 March; no later than 4PM on 28 March.

•Monday 26 March 2012    Audio    Transcript

Judicial Power: Does 1867 the Anti-Injunction Act prevent the Court from hearing this case until the law actually imposes a fine, a litigant pays it and then sues?

•Tuesday 27 March 2012    Audio    Transcript

Government Power: Can the federal government force individuals to buy health insurance?

•Wednesday 28 March 2012    Audio    Transcript

Severability: Can the Affordable Care Act survive without the “individual mandate”?

To listen to oral arguments, please click the links above or visit the Argument Audio page on the Court’s Web site.

To read documents relating to the cases, please visit the page on the Court’s Web site dedicated to the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act Cases.

SCOTUSblog is an excellent resource for understanding the Supreme Court in general. SCOTUSblog has a special section devoted to the Affordable Care Act cases.

Declaration of Independence (4 July 1776)

Constitution of the United States (17 September 1787)

Bill of Rights & Amendments XI to XXVII

The Bill of Rights, as the first ten Amendments to the Constitution are known, were proposed by James Madison. In fact, there were 12 proposed Amendments. The first Congress adopted the all but two in September 1789. By the end of 1791, 11 of the 13 states had ratified the Amendments. The Constitution has been amended 17 times since the Bill of Rights.

The Federalist Papers (1787–1788)

Eighty-five essays by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison explaining to New Yorkers why they should adopt the Constitution.

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