Another ObamaCare Case Headed to the Supreme Court
Last week I told you that the Obama Administration has decided to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case out of Florida (involving 26 states challenging ObamaCare) and review the decision of a federal appeals court striking the individual mandate of ObamaCare.
Now, Virginia has filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court asking it to take its case and overturn the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that the Commonwealth lacked standing to sue against ObamaCare.
Virginia’s petition asserts, as we have argued in our own suit challenging the law, that the individual mandate of ObamaCare – forcing individuals to buy a particular service against their will – is unconstitutional.
The mandate and penalty are also not supported by the text of the Commerce Clause, which presupposes an activity to regulate. The historical context in which the Commerce Clause was drafted make it highly unlikely that it included a power to command a citizen to purchase goods or services from another. Certainly there is no tradition or history of the Commerce Clause being used in this way.
As you know, the ACLJ has supported Virginia’s challenge to this unconstitutional violation of our personal liberties from the beginning. We filed an amicus brief representing 49 Members of Congress – including House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor – and over 70,000 Americans from across the country.
We will continue to support these efforts out of Virginia and Florida to overturn this pro-abortion law as we await a decision from a D.C. federal appeals court in our own lawsuit challenging ObamaCare, which we expect to end up at the Supreme Court as well.
As Virginia’s petition points out, the number of cases heading to the Supreme Court challenging ObamaCare and the split in the federal circuits, “maximize[s] the likelihood of [the Supreme Court] reaching the merits” and quickly deciding this important constitutional case.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court will decide ObamaCare, and I am confident that it will find this law – and its overarching restriction on liberty – unconstitutional.
We will continue to keep you updated as these critical cases progress.