FL: ObamaCare Unconstitutional

By 

Jay Sekulow

|
June 9, 2011

3 min read

ObamaCare

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An important decision today from a federal district court in Florida in a case where we represent more than 60 members of Congress and some 70,000 Americans in an amicus brief backing Florida's legal challenge to ObamaCare.

In the Florida case, a federal district court has declared the individual mandate unconstitutional and struck down the entire health care law.

In his ruling, Judge Roger Vinson said that the law's requirement to carry insurance or pay a fee "is outside Congress' Commerce Clause power, and it cannot be otherwise authorized by an assertion of power under the Necessary and Proper Clause. It is not constitutional."  The ruling also said that entire law "must be declared void," because the mandate to carry insurance is "not severable" from the rest of the law.

You can read our analysis of the opinion here.

This sweeping decision represents the most significant step yet on the legal path toward putting an end to ObamaCare.  Like a decision by a federal court in Virginia last month, this court's conclusion is both sensible and sound.  By declaring the individual mandate unconstitutional, the court rejects the unprecedented power grab by the federal government. 

But the Florida decision goes further - striking down the entire health care law as unconstitutional.  The fact is that forcing Americans to purchase health care not only undermines individual liberty, but violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, and as this court correctly determined, renders the entire law void. 

This is a very encouraging decision.

The Florida decision comes on the heels of a federal district court decision in Virginia in December in which the individual mandate of ObamaCare was declared unconstitutional.

In the Florida case, we represent 63 members of Congress and more than 70,000 Americans, backing Florida's challenge.  The amicus brief is posted here.

We've also filed an amicus brief backing Virginia's legal challenge on behalf of 28 members of Congress - including House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Cantor - as well as more than 70,000 Americans. 

Further, we have filed our own federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. representing individuals directly challenging the constitutionality of the health care law.  

In the Florida decision today, we're already preparing for an appeal.  We will continue to represent members of Congress in preparing an amicus brief supporting Florida's challenge of ObamaCare - at the next level - at the appellate court level.

We'll keep you posted as developments continue to unfold.