Judge Refuses to Toss Va. Challenge to Health Care Law
A federal judge in Richmond, Va., has refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the health care law signed by the president in March.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson held that the court had jurisdiction to hear the challenge to the law requiring people to buy health care coverage or pay a penalty, according to stories in the New York Times, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. The United States had argued Virginia had no standing to sue and the suit was not ripe since the insurance requirement doesn’t take effect until 2014, according to the Bloomberg account. The United States had also argued the state had failed to state a cause of action meriting relief, the Times says.
The suit by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli contends Congress has no authority to regulate health care under the commerce clause, the necessary and proper clause, or its taxation powers. He also argues the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act takes precedence, and the federal legislation violates the state law.
Hudson wrote that he could not determine at this stage of the litigation that Virginia’s complaint had failed to state a cause of action. He writes that the law “literally forges new ground and extends commerce clause powers beyond its current high watermark,” raising issues “of national significance.”
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog posted Hudson’s opinion (PDF). The case is Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius.
