Wendy Collins Perdue *
On November 11, 2011, the University of Richmond Law Review held its annual Allen Chair Symposium, focused on the litigation challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Recognizing that much had already been written about the constitutionality of the ACA, but that less scholarly attention had been focused on issues such as jurisdiction, standing, ripeness, and severability, the Symposium was entitled “Everything but the Merits.” The timing of this Symposium was both prescient and awkward. Three days after the Symposium was held, the Supreme Court took certiorari on a group of the ACA cases and scheduled an extraordinary three days of argument. Of course once the Court decides these cases, prognostications will be of little significance. Fortunately, the pieces that follow offer insights that go far beyond the issues of the ACA litigation, examining a range of issues about constitutional litigation.
* Dean and Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law. The author would like to thank the Allen family for their support of the Allen Chair Symposium along with Professors Carl Tobias and Kevin Walsh and Symposium Editor Aminah Qureshi for their work in putting together this excellent 2011 Allen Chair Symposium.