Not to get too into the legal weeds, but worth remembering that the ruling by 11th Circuit on the constitutionality of the health insurance mandate was by a three-judge panel of the court. Three-judge panels get the first and usually only stab at most cases on appeal. But in legally and politically significant cases, the entire appeals court may decide to hear the case en banc. The en banc decision trumps the three-judge panel. So this may not be the last word on the matter from the 11th Circuit. Read More
The 11th Circuit didn’t completely uphold the trial court’s decision. It reversed the trial court ruling that, because there was no severability clause in the health care reform law, the unconstitutionality of the mandate rendered the entire law unconstitutional and unenforceable. In other words, the 11th Circuit ruled that the rest of the law still stands. Not a minor issue at all and one worth noting.
The 11th Circuit’s ruling that the health insurance mandate is unconstitutional is important in its own right, but the significance of it is amplified because we now have the 11th Circuit at odds with the 6th Circuit on this issue.
Conflicting legal authority among the federal appeals courts is an additional basis — some might say justification — for the Supreme Court to agree to hear a case. I don’t think there was much doubt the health care reform law would end up before the Supreme Court, but today’s ruling pretty much removes any remaining doubt.
