The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled Thursday morning that the state of Virginia had no right to challenge the president’s health care overhaul, but Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli vowed to appeal the decision.
“Obviously, we are disappointed in the ruling,” Cuccinelli said in a statement. “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.”
Contrasting the court ruling, which said the state had no basis for a lawsuit, Cuccinelli argues that “this suit has always been about vindicating the power of the Virginia General Assembly to legislate about a subject that has historically been viewed as falling within the areas the Constitution left to the states.”
“In rejecting Virginia’s right to bring the action, the court said that allowing such suits would allow the states to serve as ‘roving constitutional watchdogs,’” Cuccinelli continued. “This was exactly a role that the Founding Fathers planned for the states to have.”
Cuccinelli filed the suit on March 23, 2010, two days after Obamacare’s passage. On December 13, 2010, Judge Henry Hudson of the District Court allowed the suit to go forward. The Virginia suit is separate from one filed by 13 other states.
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