Va. AG appeals healthcare reform decision to Supreme Court
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has filed an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding its challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
Virginia's petition asks the Supreme Court to overturn the recent decision of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that dismissed Virginia's lawsuit because the court said the commonwealth lacked standing to challenge the healthcare law. Cuccinelli is defending the Virginia HealthCare Freedom Act (VHCFA), which the Virginia General Assembly passed that states that no one can force Virginia citizens to purchase health insurance.
"The court's decision is not only in conflict with the Constitution, but it is also in direct conflict with the decisions of the Supreme Court and of numerous other circuit courts of appeals,” Cuccinelli stated. “In fact, neither the federal government in its arguments nor the Fourth Circuit in its opinion identified a single case where the Supreme Court or another federal circuit court had ever found that a state lacked standing to defend a statute from a claim of federal preemption."
Cuccinelli wishes to raise a second issue by asking the Supreme Court to review the case on the merits of whether or not Congress has the ability to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.
"Given the importance of the issue, we believe that multiple petitions should be granted to guarantee that the Supreme Court has a case in which it can reach all the key constitutional questions,” Cuccinelli concluded. “In its filings in the Supreme Court, the federal government has raised the possibility that the other suits may not have standing and may be barred by the federal Anti-Injunction Act. Accordingly, because Virginia's is the case in which the issue of state sovereign standing has been most fully developed, it may be the only case where the court can reach the merits of all the constitutional questions this law has created.”
Recently, President Barack Obama asked the Supreme Court to hear a case concerning the constitutionality of the PPACA.
Virginia's petition asks the Supreme Court to overturn the recent decision of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that dismissed Virginia's lawsuit because the court said the commonwealth lacked standing to challenge the healthcare law. Cuccinelli is defending the Virginia HealthCare Freedom Act (VHCFA), which the Virginia General Assembly passed that states that no one can force Virginia citizens to purchase health insurance.
"The court's decision is not only in conflict with the Constitution, but it is also in direct conflict with the decisions of the Supreme Court and of numerous other circuit courts of appeals,” Cuccinelli stated. “In fact, neither the federal government in its arguments nor the Fourth Circuit in its opinion identified a single case where the Supreme Court or another federal circuit court had ever found that a state lacked standing to defend a statute from a claim of federal preemption."
Cuccinelli wishes to raise a second issue by asking the Supreme Court to review the case on the merits of whether or not Congress has the ability to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance.
"Given the importance of the issue, we believe that multiple petitions should be granted to guarantee that the Supreme Court has a case in which it can reach all the key constitutional questions,” Cuccinelli concluded. “In its filings in the Supreme Court, the federal government has raised the possibility that the other suits may not have standing and may be barred by the federal Anti-Injunction Act. Accordingly, because Virginia's is the case in which the issue of state sovereign standing has been most fully developed, it may be the only case where the court can reach the merits of all the constitutional questions this law has created.”
Recently, President Barack Obama asked the Supreme Court to hear a case concerning the constitutionality of the PPACA.