State & Local
Judge Rules Health Care Law Is Unconstitutional
Published January 31, 2011
| FoxNews.com
Michael McCloskey 2007
A U.S. district judge on Monday threw out the nation's health care law, declaring it unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause and surely reviving a feud among competing philosophies about the role of government.
Judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, Fla., ruled that as a result of the unconstitutionality of the "individual mandate" that requires people to buy insurance, the entire law must be declared void.
Great news. Now if we can get the courts to rule that laws can only be created by the legislative branch, and not the latest appointed Czar to an agency, we may get some control of our nation back.
Florida judge rules health care law unconstitutional
Carrie Dann writes:A federal judge has ruled that the health care reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama in March is unconstitutional
Today’s decision is the second ruling by a federal judge against the constitutionality of the health care legislation. Two other federal courts have upheld the constitutionality of the law, including its requirement that most Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
While the lawsuit addressed in Vinson’s ruling is the largest of its kind – with 26 states having signed on – today’s decision is likely just one more step in the law’s march to the United States Supreme Court.
But this is the biggest court victory yet for opponents of the law's requirement that all Americans by health insurance.
So far, it looks like these court decisions are following the politics of whichever president appointed the judge...
The ruling by Judge Vinson, a senior judge who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, solidified the divide in the health litigation among judges named by Republicans and those named by Democrats.
Last month, Judge Henry E. Hudson of Federal District Court in Richmond, Va., who was appointed by President George W. Bush, became the first to invalidate the insurance mandate. Two other federal judges named by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, have upheld the law.
The Florida plaintiffs ensured they would draw a Republican-appointed judge by filing the lawsuit in Pensacola.
pineinthegrass wrote: So it's looking more and more like this will end up being another 5-4 Supreme Court decision.
It's never been about what is constitutional and what is not, it is strictly political, and judges are just as political as our elected representatives.
It should be obvious that the law is unconstitutional. The government simply was not given the authority to require citizens to purchase specific products.
towermonkey wrote: It should be obvious that the law is unconstitutional. The government simply was not given the authority to require citizens to purchase specific products.