As we reported on Monday, a Virginia federal judge made national headlines when he declared that the mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance under the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, is unconstitutional. See Commonwealth of Virginia, et al. v. Sebelius (E.D. Va., Case No. 3:10-cv-188) (PDF). On Tuesday, it was reported that the U.S. Justice Department plans to appeal the Virginia decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rather than seeking expedited review at the U.S. Supreme Court. That means that the first case to reach the Supreme Court involving a constitutional challenge to the new health care statute may come out of the Sixth Circuit, which is currently addressing the issue. See Thomas More Law Center, et al. v. Obama, et al. (Sixth Circuit, Case No. 10-2388). Briefing in the Sixth Circuit case is scheduled to be completed by the end of January 2011.
On Wednesday, the plaintiffs in the Sixth Circuit case filed their opening brief. See Appellants’ Brief (PDF). As expected, the plaintiffs’ lead argument is...
