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Larry O'dell

Thursday, Sep 8, 2011 4:49 PM UTC

Federal court tosses lawsuit over health reform

Three-judge panel in Virginia backs constitutionality of Affordable Care Act

By , Associated Press President Barack Obama gestures during an event in the East Room of the White House to honor NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for his fifth consecutive championship on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)(Credit: AP)

A federal appeals court in Virginia has dismissed two lawsuits that had claimed President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul was unconstitutional.

The unanimous decision was issued Thursday by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It is the second appellate court ruling affirming the government’s right to require individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati also upheld the law, but an appeals court in Atlanta struck down the insurance mandate.

Two of the judges on the Virginia panel were appointed by Obama, the other by Bill Clinton. They rejected claims by the state’s Republican attorney general and Liberty University that the insurance mandate is unconstitutional.

More than 30 lawsuits have been filed over the law.

Monday, Dec 13, 2010 5:24 PM UTC

Virginia judge strikes down federal healthcare law

Both sides agree the dispute over the law's constitutionality will be decided by the Supreme Court

By , Associated Press

A federal judge declared the Obama administration’s health care law unconstitutional Monday, siding with Virginia’s attorney general in a dispute that both sides agree will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan. Several other lawsuits have been dismissed and others are pending, including one filed by 20 other states in Florida.

Virginia Republican Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli filed a separate lawsuit in defense of a new state law that prohibits the government from forcing state residents to buy health insurance. However, the key issue was his claim that the federal law’s requirement that citizens buy health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional.

Hudson, a Republican who was appointed by President George W. Bush, sounded sympathetic to the state’s case when he heard oral arguments in October, and the White House expected to lose this round.

Administration officials told reporters last week that a negative ruling would have virtually no impact on the law’s implementation, noting that its two major provisions — the coverage mandate and the creation of new insurance markets — don’t take effect until 2014.

The central issue in Virginia’s lawsuit was whether the federal government has the power under the constitution to impose the insurance requirement. The Justice Department said the mandate is a proper exercise of the government’s authority under the Commerce Clause.

Cuccinelli argued that while the government can regulate economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce, the decision not to buy insurance amounts to economic inactivity that is beyond the government’s reach.

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Tuesday, Jun 8, 2010 5:08 PM UTC

Judge releases court orders in lacrosse killing

Public can view documents that sealed search warrants in University of Virginia homicide

By , Associated Press

A judge has ruled the public should be allowed to see portions of court orders that sealed search warrants obtained during the investigation into the death of a University of Virginia lacrosse player.

Charlottesville Circuit Judge Cheryl Higgins ruled Tuesday that heavily edited copies of three orders should be released to The Associated Press, the Daily Progress, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Washington Post.

The four sought the information after a judge sealed search warrants obtained in the investigation of Yeardley (YAHRD’-lee) Love’s death. The judge also sealed the orders that sealed the warrants.

The 22-year-old was found dead last month. U.Va. men’s lacrosse player George Huguely has been charged with first-degree murder.

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