It's the second time the high court has denied a expedited review request from the law's opponents. While Monday's decision doesn't foreclose others from asking the justices to do the same with their cases, it now seems unlikely that the court would break its regular protocols to hear a dispute that will almost certainly come before them -- just not now.

One of the reasons for denying review may have been the opposition from the Obama administration. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal told the court, "there is no basis for short-circuiting the normal course of appellate review."

Katyal said there is no question that the case is of great public importance but uses the language of the court's own rules to say it is not "one of the rare cases that justifies deviation from normal appellate practice and require[s] immediate determination in this court." Katyal pointed out that the Virginia case and several others are already in the pipeline and little time may be saved if the court were to jump in now.

While it's hard to predict the timeline of his case or the couple of dozens others working through the legal system, it's possible that the Virginia case or another could be heard by the court by this time next year with a ruling by the end of June 2012.