Last week 16 Democratic-led states appealed the district court ruling striking down the Affordable Care Act. Experts estimate that the appeal will take about a year, possibly longer if the case goes to the Supreme Court. Missing from the debate over the latest Obamacare ruling is the normalcy of this appellate process and timeline.

While the latest ACA ruling has prompted strong reactions from both the right and left, there is an underlying, easy-to-miss point about judicial remedial power. Regardless of one’s view on the merits, the district court decision is a model of restraint in an important, structural way. The judge did not enjoin the ACA from coast to coast.