A petition for certiorari (
full text) was filed yesterday, captioned
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, (U.S. Sup. Ct., filed 10/1/2019). The petition seeks review of the 3rd Circuit's decision in
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. President of the United States of America which affirmed a district court's entry of a nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Trump Administration's final rules expanding the scope of the exemptions under the Affordable Care Act for employers having religious or moral objections to contraceptive coverage. (See
prior posting.) Little Sisters of the Poor who are seeking Supreme Court review were intervenors in the 3rd Circuit case. (See
prior posting.) The petition for review sets out the questions presented:
1. Whether a litigant who is directly protected by an administrative rule and has been allowed to intervene to defend it lacks standing to appeal a decision invalidating the rule if the litigant is also protected by an injunction from a different court?
2. Whether the federal government lawfully exempted religious objectors from the regulatory requirement to provide health plans that include contraceptive coverage?
Becket issued a
press release announcing the filing of the cert. petition.
