..Virginia filed its lawsuit in March 2010, the same day that Obama signed the legislation. The following day, the state passed its own law, known as the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act (VHCFA), declaring that individuals cannot be forced to buy health insurance and sued on that basis.
But the court ruled Thursday that the VHCFA does not create the kind of conflict that allows for a challenge in federal court.
"The individual mandate in the health care law does not affect Virginia's ability to enforce VHCFA," the court opined. "Rather, the Constitution itself withholds from Virginia the power to enforce VHCFA against the federal government."
All three judges on the Virginia panel were appointed by Democratic presidents -- two by Obama and one by Bill Clinton.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli vowed to appeal the ruling.
"Obviously, we are disappointed in the ruling," he said. "Our disappointment not only stems from the fact that the court ruled against us, but also that the court did not even reach the merits on the key question of Virginia's lawsuit -- whether Congress has a power never before recognized in American history: the power to force one citizen to purchase a good or service from another citizen."
Stephen Presser, a law professor at Northwestern University, called the ruling a "highly technical decision."
"This decision might well be questionable, but the court did note that important constitutional issues were involved, and even the court conceded that those issues should be resolved in an appropriate forum," he said.
"This is a further indication that the United States Supreme Court should soon resolve this issue, now that both the district courts and the court of appeals have issued contradictory decisions both on the standing and substantive issues," he said.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09 ... z1XODhBoNO
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