The bill has been before several U.S. District Judges and while some have backed the bill, such as U.S. District Court Judges George Caram Steeh and Norman K. Moon (of Michigan and Virginia, respectively), others have not been so kind.
On December 12, 2010, the bill was deemed unconstitutional by another Virginia District Judge, Henry E. Hudson.
In his ruling, Hudson stated that, ''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.''
The ruling refers to the individual mandate provision in the PPACA that would, essentially, tax a citizen who did not purchase a health insurance plan. Judge Roger Vinson of Florida reiterated Hudson's ruling in his own ruling on January 31, 2011.
In his ruling, Vinson wrote that the ''individual mandate applies across the board. People have no choice and there is no way to avoid it. [...] It is not based on an activity that they make the choice to undertake. Rather, it is based solely on citizenship and on being alive.'' Vinson concluded that ''because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void.''
Aside from the specific debate over whether or not President Obama's healthcare Act is constitutional, a glaring issue in this case is the potentially partisan politics taking place behind the bench. Obamacare was a central issue in the mid-term elections and, by many accounts, the centerpiece of many Republican candidates' campaigns. The GOP vowed to repeal the Act and as they won the majority of the House of Representatives, they began the process, voting to repeal the bill in a 245-189 vote.
Repeal, however, is not expected to pass through the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The battle between the parties over the constitutionality of the act has become so intense. It has become very difficult to distinguish opinion versus platform with Republican politicians spearheading the fight against the bill.
Though unlike politicians, Federal Judges have to back up their statements with written rulings with thorough explanations, four separate rulings on such a partisan issue beg one to reassess the roles and the interchanges between the separate branches of government.
