Virginia judge rules health care mandate unconstitutional

[futurebeachbum]

No big surprise...Looks like it'll end up being a SCOTUS issue.

From CNN "Virginia judge rules health care mandate unconstitutional"

A Virginia federal judge on Monday found a key part of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care reform law unconstitutional, setting the stage for a protracted legal struggle likely to wind up in the Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson struck down the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014. The Justice Department is expected to challenge the judge's findings in a federal appeals court.

Hudson's opinion contradicts other court rulings finding the mandate constitutionally permissible.

"An individual's personal decision to purchase -- or decline purchase -- (of) health insurance from a private provider is beyond the historical reach of the U.S. Constitution," Hudson wrote. "No specifically constitutional authority exists to mandate the purchase of health insurance."

 

[30ashopper]

Obamacare mandate ruled unconstitutional

In a 42-page opinion issued in Richmond, Va., Judge Hudson wrote that the law?s central requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance exceeds the regulatory authority granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The insurance mandate is central to the law?s mission of covering more than 30 million uninsured because insurers argue that only by requiring healthy people to have policies can they afford to treat those with expensive chronic conditions.

The judge wrote that his survey of case law ?yielded no reported decisions from any federal appellate courts extending the Commerce Clause or General Welfare Clause to encompass regulation of a person?s decision not to purchase a product, not withstanding its effect on interstate commerce or role in a global regulatory scheme.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/health/policy/14health.html

Interesting development. Looks like the presumptions that it would hold up in court may have been a little premature.

 

[30ashopper]

No big surprise...Looks like it'll end up being a SCOTUS issue.

From CNN "Virginia judge rules health care mandate unconstitutional"

Won't that be an interesting ruling.

 

[Linda]

Eric Cantor is asking that the Supreme Court take up the issue immediately to expedite the process.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) :: Republican Whip

 

[30ashopper]

?Of course, the same reasoning could apply to transportation, housing or nutritional decisions,? Hudson wrote. ?This broad definition of the economic activity subject to congressional regulation lacks logical limitation and is unsupported by previous legal cases around the Commerce Clause of the Constitution."

A nail in the heart of the progressive agenda.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Just FYI,

Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform. You don't say!

Judge Who Ruled Health Care Reform Unconstitutional Owns Piece of GOP Consulting Firm

 

[scooterbug44]

He just addressed the section requiring insurance or paying a fine. The health care bill is still constitutional, it is just that provision that is in dispute - and since it doesn't go into effect until 2014 there is plenty of time to sort it out.

 

[30ashopper]

He just addressed the section requiring insurance or paying a fine. The health care bill is still constitutional, it is just that provision that is in dispute - and since it doesn't go into effect until 2014 there is plenty of time to sort it out.

One of the most contentious issues, a clear over reach. The judge did signal this wasn't a case where the entire law would get nullified. It'll be interesting to see how the SC rules on this when it gets there. (If it gets there, it could get modified or repealed before it does.)

I'm still wondering from Glenda's thread how we'll pay for this. I've been doing more research, the costs for the state are quite large.

If we need to generate an additional 3-4 billion in tax revenue to pay for this, what taxes would people be willing to take a hit on? Lots of options - sin taxes, sales taxes, real estate taxes, higher fees?

 

[Matt J]

Funny how the conservatives love an "activist judge" when he rules in their favor. Of course in this case it turns out he has a vested interest in repealing the law and his ruling isn't based on a sense of fairness.

 

[30ashopper]

Funny how the conservatives love an "activist judge" when he rules in their favor. Of course in this case it turns out he has a vested interest in repealing the law and his ruling isn't based on a sense of fairness.

I don't agree with you that this ruling is activist. But on the subject, there are 'good' and 'bad' activist judges. A 'good' activist judge restores original intent by overturning bad precedent.