ObamaCare's Day in Court at the 6th Circuit
The Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro was in court today in Cincinnati, Ohio to hear oral arguments in the ObamaCare challenge brought before a 3-judge panel of the federal 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and as he reports, "here there will be at least one vote to strike down the individual mandate, and maybe even all three." From Shapiro's summary:
Not surprisingly, this case, brought by the Thomas More Legal Center, will almost certainly be decided on the issue of whether the federal government can compel people to engage in commerce — "regulate inactivity." The government's theory that "health care is unique" came under harsh attack from Judges Graham and Sutton because it didn't seem to offer a constitutional (as opposed to factual) limiting principle for federal power. Judge Martin was more circumspect, but he's considered among the most liberal circuit judges in the country, so all things being equal would probably try to uphold the law (or find a way to decide the case on procedural grounds so as to avoid losing on the merits). Judge Sutton — one of the more conservative jurists nationwide — was also scrupulously neutral, picking at weaknesses in both sides' presentation and appearing open to a narrow technical decision.
