According to Ilya Somin of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
When 21 states and several private groups initiated lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care law earlier this year, critics denounced the suits as frivolous political grandstanding. But it is increasingly clear that the plaintiffs have a serious case with a real chance of victory.
…
In the most recent of the three rulings, Florida federal District Court Judge Roger Vinson wrote that the government’s claim that the mandate is clearly authorized by existing Supreme Court precedent is “not even a close call.” He points out that “[t]he power that the individual mandate seeks to harness is simply without prior precedent,” because no previous Supreme Court decision ever authorized Congress to force ordinary citizens to buy products they did not want.
An August ruling in the Virginia case by federal District Judge Henry Hudson reached the same conclusion. As Judge Hudson points out, “[n]o reported case from any federal appellate court” has ever ruled that Congress’ powers “include the regulation of a person’s decision not to purchase a product.”
These are merely the first steps in a legal battle certain to end up in the Supreme Court. While Somin goes on to say that striking down the individual mandate in ObamaCare is still an uphill climb, the case is now demonstrated to be compelling and stands a real chance of prevailing. As this works its way through the court system, always remember that it was because of the vigilance of members of the Virginia Tea Parties that helped make the Health Care Freedom Act state law, giving Attorney General Cuccinelli extra ammunition to challenge (and ultimately defeat?) the atrocious ObamaCare.
