The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a decision by the Eastern District Court of Virginia holding that the individual mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requiring individual persons to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was brought by Kenneth Cuccinelli II in his capacity as the Virginia Attorney General. The Fourth Circuit held that the Attorney General had no standing to sue because he was not suing as a taxpayer, but instead claimed to be defending the sovereignty of the state. Because the Attorney General had no standing, the Court reasoned, the District Court had no basis for ruling on his claim.
Cuccinelli is the first state Attorney General to file suit challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. No appeals court has ruled that states or state officials have standing on their own to sue over the Act.
You can read a copy of the Fourth Circuit’s decision here.
Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara
