Squeeze it. That's How You Know it's Ripe.

In the previous post, we discussed the procedural hurdle of standing. Today, we'll be discussing it's counterpart, ripeness. Both standing doctrine and ripeness doctrine require a court to ask whether the attorneys general have suffered harm. Ripeness, however, requires an additional inquiry into whether the harm asserted has "matured sufficiently to warrant judicial intervention." Pacific Legal Foundation v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Comm., 659 F.2d 903 (9th Cir. 1981). In other words, are the parties injured at the time they filed suit. If they are not, then the case is not an Article III case or controversy and must be dismissed. Id.

In the previous post, we identified two alleged injuries - (1) requiring individuals to have health insurance and (2) forcing the states to expend money to implement the health care bill. The first injury, we noted, did not pass the standing hurdle. Thus, it is not necessary to see if it is also "ripe." We only need to address the latter injury.

Mr. and Mrs. Attorneys General, you might not like to hear this. Your only cognizable injury most likely does not meet the ripeness requirement. Although the bill was recently passed. It appears that a number of its provisions, especially the ones affecting the States, do not take effect until 2011 or even 2014. Until that time, you have no present injury; you have only a potential or future injury. Who know what may happen by that time. The bill could be amended, repealed, replaced, etc. It might not even be enforced at all. Without a present injury, the suit is simply not ripe. In the absence of such an injury, the suit must be dismissed.

Ripeness is one of the first things they teach you in Constitutional law class. You would think that any lawyer - let alone an attorney general of a State - would have even a cursory understanding of the doctrine and it's requirement. Alas, attorneys general, you proved that no area of life, not even the area of Constitutional law, is safe from unsubstantiated political attacks.

Again, if you think this is a mere "technicality" and should not even be a consideration, please see my previous post.