Judge Roger Vinson
Florida Federal Judge Roger Vinson ruled yesterday that the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, a move characterized by Politico as “the most striking blow yet to President Obama’s signature domestic legislation.”
Like the recent ruling in Virginia, yesterday’s decision addressed the legality of the mandate to buy insurance.
However, the Florida-based lawsuit is considered a more significant attack than the Virginia ruling, both because the lawsuit represents a coalition of 26 states and because the judge goes on to rule that because the mandate provision is unconstitutional, so is the entire law. You can read some of the legal debate around this issue on this Washington Post blog.
Another interesting read is The American Prospect’s take on opposition to Health Care Reform in the context of attempts to dismantle The New Deal.
The Florida lawsuit is now headed for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Atlanta-based court is “considered one of the country’s most conservative appellate benches” according to the New York Times’ coverage of the case.
