Another mixed review, and another trio of judges that dodge the Constitutionality of a mandate, and instead rule the state has no right to sue. Not stopping there, they dodged the same bullet with the Liberty lawsuit. Only the Supremes will be able to determine O’healthcare’s fate, and whether the States have sufficient standing to challenge the law’s mandates.
A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Virginia’s challenge to President Obama’s health care law, saying in a ruling that the state doesn’t have a right to bring a lawsuit.
The unanimous decision from the three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower court’s decision to declare the law unconstitutional and is the second appellate court ruling in favor of the government’s right to require individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
But the court on Thursday stopped short of ruling whether the individual mandate in the health care law is constitutional; it strictly examined Virginia’s right to sue.
The court also dismissed a second lawsuit from Liberty University for the same reason.
The Supreme Court will likely have the final say on the health care law after more than 30 lawsuits were filed and contradictory rulings were issued from appellate courts in other parts of the country. Last month, an appeals court in Atlanta ruled against the law, saying the provision to buy health care insurance is unconstitutional. But an appeals court in Cincinnati has upheld the law.
Virginia filed its lawsuit in March 2010, the same day that Obama signed the legislation. The following day, the state passed its own law, known as the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act (VHCFA), declaring that individuals cannot be forced to buy health insurance and sued on that basis.
To be expected from three Democrat appointed (two by Obama) judges.
The 4th Circuit Court made a major mistake when its majority dismissed Virginia’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare’s individual mandate on the grounds that the Old Dominion had no standing. The majority phrased it thus:
Sounds good and proper, except for one thing:
Governor McDonnell signed the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act on March 10, 2010, two weeks before ObamaCare became law. The March 24 signing was ceremonial.
OOPS!
http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2011/09/14/fourth-circuits-factual-error-throws-obamacare-decision-doubt