Legal News

Back to Tallahassee? Health-Bill Suit Starts Taking Shape

By Ashby Jones

Those who despise the health-care bill have two main avenues of recourse, it seems. They can hope that the bill is ultimately repealed by a change in power in Washington at some point down the road. Or, as we previewed not once but twice on Monday, they can litigate the darn thing — hope that a judge (or group of judges) finds that Congress overstepped its bounds in passing it.

In regard to the latter strategy, much of the work, it seems, is going to fall to two litigators and former lawyers in GOP administrations, David Rivkin Jr. and Lee Casey, of Baker Hostetler. According to the National Law Journal, the duo has signed on as outside counsel to several state attorneys.

Rivkin told the NLJ that Florida will likely be the lead plaintiff, with Baker Hostetler serving as outside counsel to Bill McCollum, the Sunshine State’s AG, and to other state attorneys general that join the suit. Rivkin said he’was likely to file in federal court in the Northern District of Florida.

And in regard to the shape of the lawsuit, Rivkin told the NLJ:

Florida’s lawsuit will make three claims: that Congress lacks the authority to require individuals to buy health insurance; that the penalty for those who do not buy health insurance violates the U.S. Constitution’s tax-apportionment clause; and that the legislation violates the 10th Amendment by granting the federal government new powers.

Separately, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, also a Republican, is expected to file a different federal lawsuit challenging the bill.

For more on this front today, click here for Jess Bravin’s story in the WSJ; here for John Schwartz’s story in the NYT. We’ll of course keep you posted on how this whole thing unfolds.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 23, 2010 (boomark / email).