ObamaCare Reaches Court of Appeals with Filing of Brief Challenging Constitutionality

Liberty Counsel

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT - 800-671-1776 or Media@LC.org



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 17, 2010



www.LC.org


Lynchburg, VA - Today Liberty Counsel filed its Initial Brief at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Liberty University and two private parties, against the so-called "ObamaCare" legislation passed last year. District Court Judge Norman Moon found that Liberty University and two individual plaintiffs had standing to assert their constitutional claims against the individual and employer mandates, that their claims were ripe for consideration, and that the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits taxpayers from trying to enjoin the collection of taxes, does not bar the claims. He then ruled on the merits of the substantive claims, finding that Congress acted within its authority under the Commerce Clause when it enacted the mandates in the healthcare law.



This appeal is focusing on the merits of the claim which form the core part of this litigation, namely that Congress lacks authority under the Constitution to force individuals to purchase a government-defined health insurance product at a government-defined price and also lacks authority to force employers to provide a government-mandated health insurance product. The brief addressed the Commerce Clause, the Taxing and Spending Clause, General Welfare Clause, First Amendment, Equal Protection, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.



On Wednesday of this week, the U.S. House plans a vote to repeal this same healthcare law.



Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, said:

"I am confident that the federal healthcare law will eventually be struck down on appeal because it is unconstitutional. Congress does not have the authority to force every American to purchase a particular kind of health insurance product. If Congress had authority to force every American to buy a particular health insurance product, then Congress's authority would be unlimited. The authority and scope of the federal government's reach into our private lives would increase and our liberty would decrease."