Crossposted with more information and constant updates from www.HealthCareLawsuits.org:
BREAKING NEWS – The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that ObamaCare’s individual mandate is unconstitutional. This is the second appellate court to issue a ruling on the 2,000-page law, following the Sixth Circuit Court that deemed the law Constitutional. This means we have split circuits, folks.
Moreover, today’s 11th circuit ruling marks the first time a Democrat-appointed judge has ruled against ObamaCare. In a 2-1 decision, Judges Frank Hull and Joel Dubina ruled against the mandate, and Judge Stanley Marcus dissented.
Notably, the Court ruled that specifically the individual mandate provision is unconstitutional, but that the rest of the law can stand. I guess I should say the Court ruled that the rest of the law “may” stand. I have reservations about whether or not the rest of the law “can” stand without the individual mandate.
This case was the most successful of any legal challenge to ObamaCare at the District Court level. Judge Roger Vinson ruled that because the individual mandate is unconstitutional, and it is unseverable from the rest of the law, the entire law was void. His decision about the Constitutionality of the mandate has been upheld today, though the 11th Circuit panel ruled differently on severability.
This means the federal government has 90 to appeal the decision. This time… the appeal is to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Another option is to request an en banc hearing, which would mean all the judges on the 11th Circuit would hear the case (instead of a three judge panel). Will the government take this route to delay the already-slow march to the SCOTUS? I hope not. The majority of voters wants the Supreme Court to decide about this law. And for the sake of insurers, employers, families, taxpayers, doctors, and patients… let’s please let the High Court decide soon.