Today is the first anniversary of NFIB v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in the Obamacare case. It is still too soon for us to fully appreciate the long-term impact of the ruling. We are also still far from reaching any kind of consensus about the correctness of the Court’s decision. For the moment, […]
Archive | Spending Clause
Maine Sues Over Medicaid MOE Requirements
NFIB v. Sebelius may be over, but the litigation against the PPACA continues. The latest lawsuit comes from Maine, which is challenging the constitutionality of the “maintenance of effort” provisions which require that states maintain whatever Medicaid eligibility standards they had in effect as of the PPACA’s enactment in March 2010. Failure to maintain these […]
NFIB as Marbury
By David Kopel on June 29, 2012 6:25 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Federalism, Individual Mandate, Politics, Spending Clause, Supreme Court, Taxing and Spending Clause, Unconstitutional Conditions
My article yesterday for Scotusblog discussed the tremendous importance of the Court’s 7-2 use of the non-coercion rule to limit Spending Clause violations of State sovereignty and independence. The rule has been around ever since Steward Machine Company v. Davis (1937), but NFIB v. Sebelius is the first decision by any federal court to find that […]
Thoughts on the Medicaid Spending Clause Decision
While the 26 state plaintiffs ultimately lost the case challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate, they partially prevailed on the other federalism case decided today: the challenge to provisions of the Affordable Care Act requiring states to massively expand Medicaid coverage or lose all of their federal Medicaid funds. The Supreme Court ruled that […]
Are States Required to Help the Federal Government’s “War on Terror”?
Last month, Virginia enacted a law forbidding state officers, including police, from helping the federal government investigate, surveil, or detain terrorist suspects who are U.S. citizens. This may or may not be good policy. David Rivkin and Charles Stimson argue it’s also unconstitutional. They write: It trenches on the federal government’s war powers and violates […]
Independence Institute brief on Medicaid mandate
By David Kopel on January 19, 2012 2:30 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Health Care, Spending Clause, Tenth Amendment
On behalf of the Independence Institute, Rob Natelson and I wrote an amicus brief on the Medicaid mandate currently before the Supreme Court. (The ACA requirement that states must drastically expand Medicaid eligibility, or lose all their federal matching funds for Medicaid.) Here’s the Summary of Argument: By imposing the Medicaid mandates in the Affordable […]
Can the Education Department Place Conditions on NCLB Waivers?
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 25, 2011 6:54 pm in Education, Federalism, Spending Clause, Uncategorized
This past week, the Department of Education announced it would allow states to obtain waivers under the No Child Left Behind Act, but “would set a “high bar on flexibility.”. (HT: Neal McCluskey) According to the announcement: states can get relief from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—or No Child Left Behind (NCLB)—in exchange […]
District Court Upholds Individual Mandate Against Challenge Filed by Liberty University
By Ilya Somin on December 1, 2010 10:45 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Spending Clause, Taxes, Taxing and Spending Clause
Yesterday, federal district Judge Norman Moon of the Western District of Virginia upheld the Obamacare individual mandate against a constitutional challenged filed by Liberty University and several private plaintiffs. For the most part, Judge Moon’s reasoning closely follows that of Michigan district Judge George Caram Steeh in the recent Thomas More Law Center decision. Both […]
My Richmond Times-Dispatch Op Ed on the Obama Health Care Plan Individual Mandate Litigation
By Ilya Somin on November 8, 2010 2:34 am in Commerce Clause, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause, Taxing and Spending Clause
Yesterday, I published an op ed on the state of the individual mandate litigation in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: When 21 states and several private groups initiated lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care law earlier this year, critics denounced the suits as frivolous political grandstanding. But it is increasingly clear that the plaintiffs […]
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 […]
Kopel comment on states’ victory on health control lawsuit.
By David Kopel on October 14, 2010 5:06 pm in Commerce Clause, Congress, Constitutional Law, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Spending Clause, Standing, Taxes, Taxing and Spending Clause, Tenth Amendment
My comment on today’s decision, granting the motion to dismiss on some counts, and while allowing other counts to proceed. Like Randy’s comment, my comment is posted on the blog of the site Health Care Lawsuits, which is hosted by the Independent Women’s Forum. The court entirely rejected the administration’s claim that the penalty for disobeying […]
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 […]
My Washington Examiner Op Ed on The Recent Ruling in the Virginia Health Care Lawsuit
By Ilya Somin on August 5, 2010 5:16 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause
The Washington Examiner recently posted my op ed on Monday’s ruling in the Virginia health care lawsuit, which I previously discussed in this post: Monday’s federal district court decision refusing to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care plan is an important step forward for opponents of the plan. The suit […]
Thoughts on the Federal District Court Ruling Refusing to Dismiss the Virginia Health Care Lawsuit
By Ilya Somin on August 2, 2010 1:09 pm in Commerce Clause, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Spending Clause
Federal District Judge Henry Hudson’s opinion refusing to dismiss Virginia’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care plan has several interesting aspects. The suit focuses primarily on a challenge to the “individual mandate” element of the plan, which requires most American citizens and legal residents to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan by […]
DOMA Section 3 Unconstitutional, Says Massachusetts District Court
By Dale Carpenter on July 8, 2010 5:41 pm in Federalism, Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation, Spending Clause
That’s the decision this afternoon, based on equal protection principles applied to the federal government through the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 established a federal definition of marriage for the first time. This meant that the federal government could refuse to grant validly married same-sex […]