The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, hearing the 26-state lawsuit against Obamacare (of which Wyoming is a part), ruled today that the individual mandate provision that everyone must purchase health insurance or pay a tax is unconstitutional. However, the court ruled that this provision is “severable,” or that the rest of Obamacare remains in place.
It’s nice when one’s worst fears are not realized. Two weeks ago, I discussed a potential snag that the Obamacare suits could run into on the road to the U.S. Supreme Court if the first courts of appeal to hear the case all upheld the law. With today’s ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida v. Health and Human Services, the Supreme Court will not only have a very new and novel constitutional issue to grapple with, but will have two circuits (the Sixth and the Eleventh) that have drawn different conclusions, known as a “circuit split.”
In short, there is now no good reason why the Supreme Court will not hear one of the Obamacare challenges next term.
I will have commentary once the opinion is available and I’m able to read it through. Per usual, the court’s website is overwhelmed at the news and cannot be accessed.
UPDATE (1:23 P.M.): the opinion is over 300 pages, and has been re-posted on Scribd.
UPDATE #2 (2:54 P.M.): there has been some speculation that instead of appealing to the Supreme Court, the feds will instead request an “en banc” hearing. This means that instead of three judges, the entire 11th Circuit will get together and hear the case. I think the Department of Justice will definitely try this, but that it’s highly unlikely the 11th will go for it. Usually circuits do this when there’s a particularly odd or egregious decision made by their peers, and often one that might not be heard before the Supreme Court for some time (meaning it could be the law of the land in that circuit for a long time). Obamacare is almost definitely going to the Supreme Court in the near future, and I don’t think the 11th will want to play a part in delaying it.
Thanks for the quick post about this Steve. It is great that the Supreme Court now basically has to take the case. Also, a great plus of this decision is that it marks the first time a Democrat-appointed judge (Frank Hull by Bill Clinton) has concluded that the mandate is unconstitutional.
I only hope SCOTUS doesn’t find the mandate severable. And I hope Obama doesn’t get to appoint a new justice prior to their hearing this case. I worry though, sometimes I worry a LOT.
Jason– I agree! With Sutton on the Sixth Circuit upholding the mandate, and now Hull on the Eleventh overturning it, I hope some of the rhetoric about a judge’s party appointer will calm down. Okay, fat chance, but a lawyer’s gotta dream.
Nancy– Sven disagrees with me (see his most recent post today), but I believe that Obamacare will collapse under its own weight if the mandate is overturned but considered severable. The insurance industry went along with eliminating pre-existing conditions on the basis that everyone would be forced to buy in. Absent the mandate, they’re going to turn very quickly, and unleash their lobbyists. The states are also fighting back against implementing the other parts– and that’s where WyLiberty comes in!
I see either the Obamacare being overturned or America marching down the road slowly to Socialism, that,s the truth, a lot of Individual freedoms have Been Lost even since the 1960,s after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 that was the Starting Point