Will SCOTUS gut the health-care law? Rule for gay marriage? Yes and yes, analyst says
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of gay marriage rights, lending the justices some cover when they rule against widespread subsidies under the Obama administration’s health-care law, according to predictions by a legal analyst.
Writing in the New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin makes five predictions for the top legal stories of 2015. Though the Supreme Court will issue a landmark decision for gay marriage rights, the reaction will be subdued, given that gay marriage is currently allowed in 35 states, Toobin says.
When the Supreme Court considers the health-care law, it will interpret the statute to allow federal subsidies to low-income families only in the 14 states with state-based health exchanges, Toobin predicts.
Toobin’s fifth prediction: “A celebrity will be arrested. Analysis will ensue.”
In predictions for 2014, Toobin said there won’t be a Supreme Court vacancy this year, and there won’t be a U.S. prosecution of Edward Snowden. He also forecast “celebrity misdeeds.”