The state of Virginia wins the first round of its fight with the Department of Justice todayover its suit against the administration’s healthcare refom with the decision of with Judge Henry Hudson’s ruling denying the DoJ’s motion to dismiss the suit.
Hudson sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and you can see his ruling here. Both sides claim victory, with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius downplaying the significance of the ruling. Like people on both sides of the issue (and like your humble blogger), Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli sees the case as having importance even the issue of healthcare.
The Examiner quotes Cuccinelli:
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sees significance in an observation by Judge Hudson, noting that “the Court recognized that the federal health care law and its associated penalty were literally unprecedented,” Cuccinelli said.
“Specifically, the Court wrote that ‘[n]o reported case from any federal appellate court has extended the Commerce Clause or Tax Clause to include the regulation of a person’s decision not to purchase a product, notwithstanding its effect on interstate commerce.'”
The Virginia AG added that “this lawsuit is not about health care, it’s about our freedom and about standing up and calling on the federal government to follow the ultimate law of the land – the Constitution.”