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This week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia declared the federal health insurance mandate and its penalty unconstitutional. The next day, Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius published an op-ed in The Post ["A health reform for everyone"], arguing that the federal government is justified in claiming the power to order citizens to purchase health insurance.... *************** Eegardless of whether one agrees with the court's ruling, .... the question of the law's constitutionality can be conclusively resolved only in the U.S. Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the Justice Department appears to wish...

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II was elected Attorney General of Virginia on November 3, 2009. (Photo from Cuccinelli’s official Web site) (CNSNews.com) - Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told CNSNews.com that the federal government will be able to “order” individuals to purchase any product or service if the individual mandate in health care law is determined to be constitutional by the Supreme Court.Federal judge Henry Hudson for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the individual mandate was unconstitutional on Monday. Cuccinelli predicts that the case will ultimately lie in the hands in the Supreme Court.“Unfortunately, it could affect an...

The man who put the first dent in the president's health care law, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, is a newcomer to the national stage, but he's long been a crusader against the expansion of federal powers - winning his share of friends and foes along the way.Mr. Cuccinelli, a Republican, says anybody who has followed his political career - including eight years in the state Senate - shouldn't be surprised that he's challenging the health care act, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency,against which he is also leading the charge in a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit."There...

"What you see with Cuccinelli is what you get," say fans, foes and observers of Virginia General Attorney Ken Cuccinelli, R, who scored a victory in round one of his lawsuit against the health insurance mandate on Monday. In the 4th District Court in Richmond, Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled the insurance mandate, a part of Obamacare that hasn't yet gone into effect, is unconstitutional. "This case is not about health insurance. It is not about health care. It's about liberty," Cuccinelli said at a press conference on Monday. "We've won the first round of this particular fight, but we...

Health Care: A federal judge ruled Monday that the mandate forcing Americans to buy health care insurance is unconstitutional. Is this the first step in the collapse of ObamaCare? U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, a 2002 George W. Bush appointee, said lawmakers went too far in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act when they included a requirement forcing those who are not otherwise covered to buy a health plan or pay a penalty. He wrote that this individual mandate "exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power." Never have the courts, Hudson's 42-page opinion said, "extended Commerce Clause...

As I told you earlier today, Virginia won the first round of the constitutional fight over the federal health care law. I also told you I'd get back to you with more details later in the day, and I'm keeping my promise. I will tell you up front that I will also go into still more detail later this week - when time allows. Arguments and Outcomes There were two basic arguments in this case. First, Virginia argued that the individual mandate was beyond the power of Congress and the President to impose under the Constitution. Specifically, Congress claimed that...

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Daily Kos hates Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and now they have even more reason to trash him, thank God. This is what DK wrote on June 8, 2010 about the Attorney General’s fight against the part of the healthcare law that forces people to buy insurance: Commerce clause, taxation without representation, whatever. The colonists were pissed. About tea, or something. The teabaggers are pissed. Not about tea, but they want to be like the colonists, so the Boston Tea Party must be somehow applicable to the new health insurance law. Hell, it works for Boehner and Cantor, et al....

Virginia Federal District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled today that the individual mandate in Obama care and all the provisions in that Act, which relate to it are unconstitutional. The judge’s ruling is posted here, but here are two of the key excerpts: Salutatory goals and creative drafting have never been sufficient to offset  an absence of enumerated powers.[p.21][...]It is clear from the text of Section 1501 that the underlying regulatory scheme was conceived as an exercise of Commerce Clause powers. This is supported by specific factual findings purporting to demonstrate the effect of the health care scheme...

UPDATED According to multiple reports, a federal judge in Virginia has ruled that part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — is unconstitutional. The ruling by District Judge Henry Hudson says the law “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power” by requiring individuals to purchase health care coverage under the “individual mandate.” It is the first federal ruling against the law. “Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market,” Hudson...

Does anybody know how I can hear Ken Cuccinelli's 2 pm press conference (on the Healthcare ruling) live, via streaming, on the web?

Just in... will keep you posted...

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.

Ruling coming TODAY in Virginia's lawsuit challenging Constitutionality of Federal Health Care Act. Virginia Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, will hold a press conference about 2 hours after the ruling is released.

The Virginia attorney general's office is considering a petition to fast track the state's challenge to federal health-care legislation so the case would bypass the appellate court and be heard directly by the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said Virginia -- which filed a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March and is awaiting a ruling in U.S. District Court this month on the constitutionality of the new law -- has discussed with federal lawyers the possibility of forgoing the appellate court review of the case and petitioning the Supreme Court directly to hear...

Virginia Republicans have paved the way for former Sen. George Allen's (R-Va.) comeback in 2012, but a rematch of one of 2006's nastiest Senate contests is still far from a forgone conclusion. The speculation about Allen’s return has put the pressure on Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who some Democrats think is ambivalent about another run in 2012. (snip) The one conservative who could give Allen the toughest time in a primary is state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has made national headlines by helping lead the charge on the state level against implementation of the healthcare law.

RICHMOND, Va. - A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed Liberty University's lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's new federal health care law, declaring that a provision requiring most individuals to obtain insurance is constitutional.

A federal judge in Virginia on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the landmark healthcare law championed by President Barack Obama, upholding key provisions that require health insurance coverage. The challenge, one of several attempting to strike down the law passed earlier this year, was brought by the conservative Christian Liberty University and individuals who said the law would violate several parts of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Norman Moon ruled that the law requiring individuals to buy health insurance coverage as well as requiring employers to buy coverage for their employees was legal under the Commerce Clause of the...

Concerned about "sexting" and "cyberbullying" in schools, Virginia's attorney general says teachers have the legal authority to seize and search through students' cell phones and laptops – without consent, warrant or parental permission. In an advisory opinion addressed to State Delegate Robert Bell, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II says teachers with "reasonable suspicion" of wrongdoing can confiscate students' electronic devices to search stored messages for evidence. "It is my opinion," Cuccinelli writes, "that searches and seizures of students' cellular phones and laptops are permitted when there is a reasonable suspicion that the student is violating the law or...

In a legal opinion rooted in the summertime death of a nun hit by an alleged drunken driver, Virginia's attorney general ruled that the state Department of Motor Vehicles does not have to accept work permits as sole proof that a driver's license applicant is in the country legally.The advisory opinion came in response to an inquiry from DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb.The DMV can accept -- or refuse to accept -- an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), or work permit, as the sole proof that the applicant is in the country legally,Cuccinelli ruled."It should be noted that the EAD may sometimes...