Late this past week, plaintiffs in Adams v. Beshear picked up vital new weapons and added a novel legal approach which might be fun to watch.
First, Adams v. Beshear became Adams, Cloyd and Durand v. Beshear. Michael Dean, of Irvine, Kentucky, then joined the plaintiffs as attorney on the case. Some credit Dean's aggressive legal tactics with prematurely ending the political career of former state Senator Ed Worley.
Dean's first act on the case was to challenge the constitutionality of KRS 12.028 which brings Attorney General Jack Conway into the fray, essentially as a very uncomfortable witness for the prosecution.
The strategy works like this: in his original executive order, Governor Steve Beshear claimed KRS 12.028 gave him the authority to set up a permanent ObamaCare exchange all by himself which it clearly does not. Dean is challenging the constitutionality of the statute itself so that the Attorney General must either argue it is clear and doesn't allow the governor to set up the exchange or that it is vague and violates Sections 27, 28 and 230, which also prohibits the governor from setting up the exchange. Jack will only be called on to testify if the judge doesn't first throw out Beshear's odd claim of authority under the law.
If that doesn't happen, Jack is in a box either way he goes. And so is Governor Beshear's illegal and unconstitutional Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange.
