Supreme Court Justice Applauded Passage of Obamacare

For those who believe that the integrity of the Supreme Court decreases the further away it gets from unanimous decisions, this should have steam coming out of your ears. It also helps to explain why the future of the country often comes down to the decision of one judge. As SCOTUS prepares to hear the case brought by several states to strike down Obamacare, it is learned that on the day of Obamacare's passage, a woman who would become Obama's second Supreme Court nominee - Elena Kagan - actually cheered its passage in an email.

Via CNS News:

On Sunday, March 21, 2010, the day the House of Representatives passed President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, then-Solicitor General Elena Kagan and famed Supreme Court litigator and Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe, who was then serving in the Justice Department, had an email exchange in which they discussed the pending health-care vote, according to documents the Department of Justice released late Wednesday to the Media Research Center, CNSNews.com's parent organization, and to Judicial Watch.

“I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing,” Kagan said to Tribe in one of the emails.

The Justice Department released a new batch of emails on Wednesday evening as its latest response to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by CNSNews.com and Judicial Watch. Both organizations filed federal lawsuits against DOJ after the department did not initially respond to the requests. CNSNews.com originally filed its FOIA request on May 25, 2010--before Elena Kagan's June 2010 Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Aside from the fact that this should remove any and all doubt that Kagan should recuse herself from the case, it serves as the quintessential example for why the Obama administration attempted to issue a rule - which it ultimately pulled back after an intense political backlash - that would give it the right to refuse any FOIA request it didn't like.

h/t Drudge