On March 26, 27 and 28, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the oral argument in challenges to the health care law.
And Saturday, March 10 on C-SPAN Radio’s historic Supreme Court oral argument and cited in several of the pending health care cases: From 1997 “County Sheriffs Jay Printz and Richard Mack, petitioners v. the United States, respondent.”
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act---or Brady Bill---- required "local chief law enforcement officers", or “CLEOS,” to perform background-checks on prospective handgun purchasers, until such time as the Attorney General established a federal system for this purpose. Ravelli County, Montana Sheriff Jay Printz and Graham County, Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack separately challenged the constitutionality of this interim provision of the Brady Bill on behalf of CLEOS in Montana and Arizona, respectively. In both cases, District courts found the background-checks unconstitutional---but ruled that since this requirement was severable from the rest of the Brady Bill---- a voluntary background-check system could remain. On appeal from the Ninth Circuit's ruling that the interim background-check provisions were constitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear and consolidate the two cases.
The audio and information in this program are courtesy of the Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.