This Wednesday at noon, I will be giving at talk at the University of Florida Law School on the Obamacare individual mandate litigation, which I recently wrote about here. The speech is sponsored by the UF Federalist Society and Health Law Society.
Archive | Federalism
Would Repeal of the 17th Amendment Help Limit Federal Power?
In a recent post and a forthcoming National Review article, co-blogger Todd Zywicki argues that repealing the Seventeenth Amendment would be an important step towards protecting federalism and limiting federal power. Todd is one of the leading academic experts on the Seventeenth Amendment. But I respectfully disagree with him on this point. I outlined my […]
Talks at Michigan State and Cooley Law Schools on Federalism and the War on Drugs
This Wednesday, I will be speaking at Michigan State University Law School and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. Both events sponsored by the local student Federalist Society chapters. In both cases, the topic will be Federalism and the War on Drugs. The talk at MSU will be at noon, and I […]
An Act/Omission Limitation on Federal Power Over States?
Orin is concerned about the ability of the Supreme court to draw a line between the federal government’s authority to regulate or prohibit conduct, on the one hand, and its ability to mandate conduct on the other. Drawing a line of this sort may be difficult, but it is hardly unprecedented. Consider some of the […]
The Individual Mandate Debate as a Replay of United States v. Lopez
[With apologies to Orin.] The more I participate in discussions on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the more it feels to me like a replay of the debate over the limits of federal commerce clause power prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Lopez. In both cases, the issue is whether […]
The Florida District Court Decision Rejecting the Federal Government’s Motion to Dismiss the Case Against the Individual Mandate
By Ilya Somin on October 14, 2010 5:42 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause, Taxes, Taxing and Spending Clause
There are several interesting aspects of today’s Florida federal district court ruling rejecting the government’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate brought by 20 states and the National Federation of Independent Business. First, as Randy Barnett emphasizes, this ruling, like the similar Virginia decision before it, further undercuts […]
Michigan District Court Upholds Individual Mandate Against Challenge by the Thomas More Law Center
By Ilya Somin on October 7, 2010 6:19 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate
Michigan federal district Judge George Caram Steeh just issued an opinion upholding the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate against a challenge by the conservative Thomas More Law Center and several individual plaintiffs who refuse to purchase health insurance by 2014 as the mandate requires. This is the first opinion issued on the merits in […]
That Which is “Necessary” Isn’t Necessarily Proper
By Ilya Somin on October 6, 2010 7:41 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper
In his most recent post in our debate over the Necessary and Proper Clause, Orin argues that Supreme Court precedent has resolved the issue of what counts as “proper” as well as what is “necessary.” That, however, simply is not so. None of the cases Orin cites say anything about the meaning of “proper.” They […]
More on the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Health Care Mandate
By Ilya Somin on October 6, 2010 2:22 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper
Orin has replied to my post explaining why current Supreme Court doctrine doesn’t support the constitutionality of the Obamacare individual mandate under the Necessary and Proper Clause. He makes three points that I will briefly answer. First, Orin suggests that current Supreme Court doctrine gives a broad interpretation of the word “proper” in the Clause. […]
Necessary and Proper Clause Doctrine and the Individual Mandate
By Ilya Somin on October 6, 2010 4:25 am in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper
In a recent post, co-blogger Orin Kerr outlines what has become the standard argument that the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate is authorized by the Necessary and Proper Clause. The claim is that the goal of the legislation is to regulate commerce in health insurance (which, under current doctrine, is a permissible end under […]
Gonzales v. Raich and the Individual Mandate
By Ilya Somin on October 5, 2010 1:10 am in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate
The Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Gonzales v. Raich ruled that Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce gives it the power to ban possession of medical marijuana that had never crossed state lines or been sold in any market anywhere. It was easily the broadest-ever Supreme Court interpretation of the Commerce Clause. When I first […]
The ACA Litigation Blog
Those of our readers interested in the litigation over the Obama health care plan should check out University of Santa Clara lawprof Brad Joondeph’s extremely helpful ACA Litigation blog. Joondeph has performed a valuable public service by making all the many briefs, documents, and motions in the Florida and Virginia health care cases available in […]
Our Amicus Brief in the Virginia Case Challenging the Constitutionality of the Obama Health Care Plan
By Ilya Somin on October 4, 2010 4:07 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause
Today, we filed an amicus brief in Virginia v. Sebelius, one of the cases challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care plan’s individual mandate, which requires nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014 or pay a fine. I wrote the brief on behalf of the Washington Legal Foundation, a leading pro-free market […]
Taking Stock of Comstock
By Ilya Somin on October 1, 2010 2:56 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper
My recent Cato Supreme Court Review symposium article on United States v. Comstock is now available on SSRN. The case has important potential implications for the litigation over the constitutionality of the Obama health care plan. Here’s the abstract: Those who argue that the federal government has nearly unlimited authority often cite the Necessary and […]
Cordray v. Fisher on the Constitutionality of ObamaCare
Today’s Constitution Day program at Case Western Reserve University is a debate on the constitutionality of health care reform between Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher. Indiana is among the states that have challenged the constitutionality of the program; Ohio is not. I’m liveblogging this event below the fold. I’ll […]