CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra: “The 11th Circuit majority ignored the text and history of the Constitution, centuries of Supreme Court precedent, and the basic reality of our modern health care system.”

Washington, DC – On news today that a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit struck down as unconstitutional the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Constitutional Accountability Center’s Chief Counsel, Elizabeth Wydra, released the following statement:

“Unlike the constitutionally grounded ruling we saw from the 6th Circuit, including George W. Bush appointee Judge Jeffrey Sutton, the 11th Circuit majority has transformed a political disagreement into a constitutional violation. Letting their policy views get the better of them, the majority ignored the text and history of the Constitution, centuries of Supreme Court precedent, and the basic reality of our modern health care system.”

“CAC filed a ‘friend of the court’ brief in the case on behalf of more than 150 state legislators from 26 states supporting the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. These legislators know that the Act respects our constitutional structure and that the challengers’ Tea Party-influenced view of federalism is deeply flawed. The Massachusetts Attorney General – who cited former Gov. Mitt Romney’s legislation as a positive example in defending the ACA – agrees.”

“The bottom line, as Judge Sutton acknowledged in his 6th Circuit opinion upholding the minimum coverage provision, is this: whether you like the mandate or not, it is unquestionably constitutional under the broad powers granted to Congress in our Constitution.”

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Resources:

Brief amicus curiae of Constitutional Accountability Center on behalf of 154 state legislators from 26 states defending the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act: http://theusconstitution.org/cases/briefs/us-department-health-human-services-v-florida-florida-v-hhs/11th-circuit-amici-brief

CAC President Doug Kendall: “Health Care Reform: Preserving Judicial Independence in a Partisan Age,” June 3, 2011: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-kendall/health-care-reform-preser_b_870988.html

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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