United States Supreme Court.
The highest rated daytime television show of the spring just might be a program called "Inside SCOTUS", but only if the Supreme Court would allow cameras into its hallowed hall. Then we could see and hear the great legal minds of our time debating constitutional issues that will shape our culture for generations. This week along would have been riveting as names scholars such as Scalia, Thomas, Sotomayor and Bader-Ginsburg heard three days of oral arguments in cases questioning the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act proposed by President Obama.
The court allowed a taste here and there of audio recordings of justices questioning the attorneys representing the U. S. government, the states and private interests. Those samples of audio were fascinating. Justice Scalia used the absurd by wondering when the government will tell us to eat broccoli when questioning what's next if the government forces people to buy health insurance. Justice Sotomayor sounded more sympathetic to allowing the Obama health care law to stand. It would have been so much better if we all could have watched the critical consideration playing out in real time. Our high tech world could wire the court for sound and video in a most unobtrusive way.
I encourage you to take a moment to read about the key legal issues before the court. Is it constitutional to mandate individuals buy health insurance? Is it constitutional to assess penalties if a person should refuse to buy into the insurance plan? And, if you get a chance to listen to a little bit of sound from the rarely heard justices even better.
Any questions or comment please forward them to mattsmemo@CNYcentral.com. I may even use some of your thoughts on NBC 3 News at 5:00, the 10:00 News on CW6 or on CNYcentral.com.
The opinions expressed in this blog are the sole responsibility of the author and are not reflective of the views or opinions of Barrington Broadcasting, WSTM-NBC3, its management or employees.
