Feb

Judge: Obamacare is Unconstitutional

The American people won a huge victory in court yesterday when a Florida Federal Appeals Judge ruled that all of “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (aka Obamacare) violated the Constitution. This is the second ruling in two months against Obamacare.

In December, Virginia District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled with respect to the “individual mandate” to purchase health insurance: “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.”

Judge Roger Vinson went further than Judge Henry Hudson, arguing that his decision was unseverable, and thus rendering the entire piece of legislation (as opposed to only the individual mandate) unconstitutional. The Wall Street Journal reports:

In his 78-page ruling, Judge Vinson wrote that the entire law must be voided because the individual insurance mandate is “not severable” from the rest of the law. Some laws contain what’s known as a severability clause that says the rest of the law stands should a judge strike down a piece of it. But Democrats left it out.

The Obama Administration, in spite of the decision, continues to implement the legislation:

The judge said he didn’t believe an injunction to stop the health overhaul was appropriate, because it is generally understood that the executive branch will obey a federal court. The government, however, doesn’t believe the ruling requires it to stop implementing the overhaul.

The battle over Obamacare will inevitably end in the Supreme Court, where, to the extent the judiciary is partisan (not an insignificant consideration) Republicans hold a tenuous majority.

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