Via Peter J. Egler Research & Instructional Services Librarian, Thomas R. Kline School of Law Drexel University: “I am proud to report that our colleague John Cannan has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision in King v. Burwell, issued today. The court cites John’s article from the Law Library Journal: “A Legislative History of the Affordable Care Act: How Legislative Procedure Shapes Legislative History,” 105 Law Libr. J. 131 (2013). Here is the citing text from Chief Justice Robert’s majority opinion:

“The Affordable Care Act contains more than a few examples of inartful drafting. (To cite just one, the Act creates three separate Section 1563s. See 124 Stat. 270, 911, 912.) Several features of the Act’s passage contributed to that unfortunate reality. Congress wrote key parts of the Act behind closed doors, rather than through “the traditional legislative process.” Cannan, A Legislative History of the Affordable Care Act: How Legislative Procedure Shapes Legislative History, 105 L. Lib. J. 131, 163 (2013). And Congress passed much of the Act using a complicated budgetary procedure known as “reconciliation,” which limited opportunities for debate and amendment, and bypassed the Senate’s normal 60–vote filibuster requirement. Id., at 159–167. As a result, the Act does not reflect the type of care and deliberation that one might expect of such significant legislation. Cf. Frankfurter, Some Reflections on the Reading of Statutes, 47 Colum. L.Rev. 527, 545 (1947) (describing a cartoon “in which a senator tells his colleagues ‘I admit this new bill is too complicated to understand. We’ll just have to pass it to find out what it means.’ ”).” King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, 2015 WL 2473448, at *11 (U.S. June 25, 2015)

Many many congratulations to John. To have a law librarian and the Law Library Journal cited in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion is a triumph for law librarians everywhere!” Thank you Peter and kudos to John Cannan.