4th Circuit Dismisses Virginia ObamaCare Challenge: Jan Schlitchmann

photo: virginia. tenthamendmentcenter.comThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit dismissed a case brought by the attorney general of Virginia against ObamaCare, holding that Virginia lacked “standing,” a legal term of art meaning that Virginia was not the proper party to bring the case.

Speaking of Justice host Jan Schlitchmann says "We  can't predict how this will play out in the Supreme Court.."

The rulings, by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, vacated lower court decisions — one for and one against the law.

The Fourth Circuit confronted two opposing lower-court decisions. One, in a case filed by Virginia’s attorney general, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, had overturned the law’s insurance requirement. The other, in a case filed by Liberty University, a Christian college in Lynchburg, Va., upheld the same provision, which is considered central to the act.

In a unanimous opinion written by Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, the Fourth Circuit panel concluded that Mr. Cuccinelli did not have standing to sue because Virginia’s case relied on a state law intended to undermine the federal act. Unlike in the Liberty case, which included individual plaintiffs who might someday be directly affected by the mandate, Mr. Cuccinelli structured his complaint as a conflict between state and federal law.

Washingtom Post Update!

The requirement in the national health-care overhaul law that individuals buy health insurance is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday in a question that the U.S. Supreme Court is widely expected to settle.

The ruling by Judge Christopher C. Conner in Harrisburg was issued in one of more than 30 lawsuits nationwide that have been filed over the 2010 law that is President Barack Obama’s signature initiative. It was filed by a Pennsylvania couple who do not have health insurance, but believe they would be subject to the mandate.