RICHMOND, Va. – A federal judge rejected a key provision of the Obama administration's health care law as unconstitutional Monday, ruling the government cannot require people to buy insurance, in a dispute that both sides agree will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down the law, which has been upheld by two other federal judges in Virginia and Michigan. Several other lawsuits have been dismissed and others are pending, including one filed by 20 other states in Florida. The government had argued the Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives the government the power to require individuals to buy health insurance or face a penalty, a provision due to take effect in 2014. But Hudson sided with Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli in saying the mandate overstepped the Constitution. “This case, however, turns on atypical and uncharted applications of constitutional law interwoven with subtle political undercurrents,” Hudson wrote. There was no immediate comment from the White House. The Department of Justice, which defended the law in court, stood by its argument that Congress was within its rights to enact the law. Cuccinelli argued that while the government can regulate economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce, the decision not to buy insurance amounts to economic inactivity that is beyond the government's reach. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul_virginia;_ylt =Ah21X60xT3d7uFclfRhXUAOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQwMzNvaGE4BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMjEzL3VzX2hlYWx0aF9jYXJlX292ZXJoYXVsX3ZpcmdpbmlhBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDanVkZ2VpbnZhc3Ry added by: JohnA
