High court taking on health law

Justices to consider if initiative’s mandate is constitutional

By Sarah Schweitzer

Globe Staff / November 15, 2011

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The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it would consider a challenge to President Obama’s national health care law - a move that could salvage or doom Obama’s signature domestic initiative just months before voters consider his re-election. The announcement had been widely anticipated because appellate courts have been at odds about the law’s constitutionality. But legal observers were taken aback by the court’s decision to allot 5.5 hours to oral argument, rather than the customary one - a sign, they said, of the court’s deep interest and recognition of the law’s significance.

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