Sunday, December 05, 2010

Analysis: Will the Supreme Court declare the new health care law unconstitutional?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/03/AR2010120304467.html

47 comments:

KRodenbeck said...

Yes

I believe that if the Supreme Court is given the opportunity to rule on the new health care law, they will find it unconstitutional because it is infringing on the rights of the people by forcing them to purchase health care.

SMiller said...

In regards to the new health care law, I do not believe the Supreme Court will come forth with a ruling that the law is completely unconstitutional. Although the bill may be invading the personal rights of those who do not wish to purchase health care, I find it difficult to imagine that the Court will be able to find a justifiable premise for striking down the new law. I believe that an engaged set of Justices will study the law in detail and conclude that it is justifiable under a broad interpretation of the doctrine of interstate commerce. Since the bill is in place to benefit the common good, it seems that the courts may have a difficult time finding complete rationale for causing its demise. Obama's new health plan seems to be here to stay, at least for the time being.

Rjohnson-evers said...

I do not believe that the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. I believe that they will find the law justified through an interpretation of interstate commerce. This has been expanded so much since the founding of this country to increase the federal power. I think the law will be maintained by the Supreme Court because it falls under the standard interpretation of interstate commerce.

Rjsweeney Hr2 said...

No, the Supreme Court will not declare the new health care law unconstitutional. universal healthcare=equal opportunity ... which is the direction in which our country is(and should be) heading.

cziolkowski said...

I do not believe that the Supreme Court will call new helth care law unconstitutional becuase there was to much effort put into this bill. I also think that the bill may go against some of their rights but I do not think that just that will be enough to call it "Unconstitutional. The universal health care for our country is a good idea but I am yet to be convinced that it will work perfectly like the way Liberals presume it will.

DSundholm said...

I think that the Supreme Court will not find the new health care law unconstitutional. I think they will have a hard time trying to find enough evidence to consider it unconstitutional because it will most likely be considered a form of interstate commerce.

Mwirch said...

Even though a good majority of the country believe the new health care law being proposed by the Obama administration may very well be against the constitution, it is highly unlikely that the supreme court will challenge it as unconstitutional. I just cannot see them immediatly striking it down.

Ecotton said...

hour 2

I believe the Supreme Court will rule out the part of the bill concerning the mandated purchase of health insurance because they will find it unconstitutional and infringing personal freedom of choice. The thing is it will not be outlawed in that manor state to state. States will still be able to say they want their citizens to all have health care because I believe it isn't much different then states requiring people to have car insurance.

GLeGros said...

I, unfortunately, don't believe the supreme court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional mostly due to the fact that it is considered, by many, to be "interstate commerce". I personally believe that this health care law is unconstitutional because the government will force citizens to buy health insurance.
I can understand that many see the positives to this law, but the core truth is, they are forcing young citizens to buy insurance. Due to the fact that young people tend to be healthy, they won't have any need to even use their insurance. Instead, they are just paying into the system without receiving any benefits.

Blake Kraussel hr. 2 said...

I believe that the Supreme court will name the new health care law unconstitutional if given the chance. After doing some research, I have found that less than fifty percent of United States people want the new health care law. In addition to that, I believe that it is unconstitutional to tell a citizen that he or she must buy government related health care. That in itselft is not constitutional. The governemnt is infringing on public rights, if this law is reviewed and named constitutional.

ckruesel said...

I don’t believe the Supreme Court will be able to rule the health care bill unconstitutional. I’m sure the people who wrote the bill made sure that it wouldn’t be able to be challenged by the Supreme Court so even if the Courts carefully examine the bill I don’t think that it could be overturned.

RPawlow said...

Though I wish it weren't true, I believe the Supreme Court will not deem the new health care law unconstitutional. The Supreme Court may determine health care as falling under the category of interstate commerce. While I find this to be the likely case, I can't grasp how the government will punish people if they choose not to buy the universal health care. This mandate upon the people will, however, infringe on people's rights and be suspect to much controversy.

RPawlow said...
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RPawlow said...
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nspoerk said...

Yes. The mandate is unconstitutional. Anyone who says otherwise is either woefully misguided or woefully liberal.

The justification for this mandate is an extremely elastic interpretation of the commerce clause of the Constitution, which reads "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."

To prove my point, let me throw out a few definitions:

Commerce- (n) the exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale involving transportation from place to place

Commodity- (n) an economic good: as a good or service

Regulate- (vb) to govern or direct according to rule; to bring order, method; to fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of

Nowhere in any of these definitions or in the text of the actual Constitution are the words "require, demand, or necessitate." Yes, the judicial branch has the power to interpret the constitution as they believe the Framers intended to suit modern situations. However, they cannot bestow new meanings on words to ensure a favorable outcome. I believe that the Supreme Courts will rule the new mandate unconstitutional because it is not strictly allowed under the Constitution. Just because the Democratick Party may veiw it as beneficial does not change the grounds on which it was (shakily) established.

AHanna said...

Because of the scope of the health care mandate, it seems unlikely that the Supreme Court would rule the law to be unconstitutional. However, I do believe that there is a chance that it could be declared as so. Obamacare reaches too far into the lives of the American people; Congress took much too broad an interpretation of the commerce clause and elastic clause. The Framers would find government to be reaching too far in the case of forcible purchasing of health care; it is an enterprise that should not be managed by the federal government. The courts are not partisan but in recent years have made many decisions favorable to the right in the slowly-going devolution revolution. It is time for the federal government to stop telling everybody what to do - it is time for the Supreme Court to declare this law unconstitutional and it is time for Congress to stop broady interpreting our Constitution. It was framed in a specific manner, and it is "un-American" to work around its boundaries.

jwaltz said...

I don't think the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. The belief that the law can regulate interstate commerce may be justifiable in the Court's eyes.

EOetting hr.2 said...

I do not believe the Supreme Court will rule the Health Care Bill unconstitutional. They will most likely place it under the interstate commerce clause and although many Americans are against the Health Care Bill, they will keep it. This is likely to be the next big controversy in America. It infringes on people rights, but the work it took to pass this will most likely outshine this fact.

Unknown said...

No, I do not believe that the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. I believe that congress has spent too much time on this bill for the Supreme Court to declare this unconstitutional. Some may say that they do not wish to purchase health care and that this bill is invading their privacy rights. However, i don't believe that the Supreme Court would rule this law uncostitutional.

MAnderson said...

I don't think the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional, even though I don't think many Americans want this, that is still beside the point. This bill has made much progress and think that the Supreme Court will just furthur this progress

DWayer said...

Much to the majority of the nation's dismay, the Supreme Court will likely not declare the new health care law unconstitutional. The reason for this is interstate commerce, which the Court can easily interpret this law to fall under it. This issue will be the next big controversy, and as others have questioned, I am also curious as to how the government will punish those who do not buy the health care.

Zyork said...

I do not believe that the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. If they were going to overturn it, then they would have to look at all the other laws that were signed based on a broad interpretation of the commerce clause. They would have to decide on exactly how much power the federal government has which I doubt the Supreme court Justices would want to do.

caseymedved said...

I do not believe that the Supreme Court would be able to find substantial enough evidence to declare the Health Care Law unconsitutional. For one, many states already require car insurance on it's inhabitants (i.e. Wisconsin). Sure, in the rule of federalism, this as seen as more constitutional. But, as with the extended Commerce Clause, there is no risk, violation, and/or determent of the persons' of the United States rights by recquiring them to have a minimul amount of healthcare.

dboyce said...

Unfortunately for the people, the supreme court won't find the new health care law unconstitutional. No one should be forced to buy health care, but I don't think the supreme court will actually find that unconstitutional.

JHoltman said...

I don't believe that the Supreme Court will rule the new health care law unconstitutional. So much effort was put forth in getting the law passed and it is hard to see the Court overturning it. It may infringe on the personal rights of those who wish not to purchase health care, but it also provides the people who can't afford health care an equal opportunity to access it. I don't see the Court ruling the health care law unconstitutional because either way it is going to upset someone.

LWundrock said...
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cquartullo said...

I do not think that the supreme court will declare the health care unconstitutional because while it may go against some of what they think or want but there was alot of time and effort put into the law. Also I belive that health care is a huge deal in the U.S. right now so they need this law to help with the whole health care problem.

MKonicke said...

I do not believe the Supreme Court will say the health care bill is unconstitutional. I think this because they won't have enough evidence to determine it unconstitutional, and like someone said before, I believe that the people who wrote the bill probably wrote it so it was constitutional.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the mandate of requiring American citizens to buy healthcare is unconstitutional, the question is: how elastic will the Supreme Court interpret the commerce clause? Health care reform was inevitable when Obama was elected and the vastness of this change will no doubt affect the Justices decision. The stakes are high but in my opinion, the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. I do not believe the framers of the Constitution would want this kind of reform, but ultimately it will be up to the Supreme Court's intricate dissection of the Constitution to decide.

LWundrock said...

I believe that the Supreme Court will find the new health care law constitutional. After all of the work that has been put into this law, the proponents of it will be arguing for the regulation of interstate commerce and compelling state interest, in the interests of all states and their citizens. Although the law inhibits some rights, proponents will argue saying that is in the country's best interest to help the citizens and improve our economy further. As the Espionage Act limits the freedom of speech and press clause of the First Amendment, this law will limit some rights of the American people, but I believe that the Court will vote in favor for the law.

jgoebl said...

Yes, I belive that the Supreme Court will rule the healthcare law unconstitutional. The interstate commerce clause states that the national government can regulate commerce which does not mean that Congress can force the people to purchase something.

JJewell said...

I think the Supreme Court will rule it unconstitutional because of many reasons. The main reason is that I believe that this health care bill forces hard working American citizens to purchase health care, and in the end, pay for others who are too lazy or uneducated to get a job and provide it for their-selves. The government has already made education free, why don't those idiots who don't take advantage of free education learn how to make a living, and dig their self out of the hole they created.

mpavelko said...

I do not believe that the new health care law will analyzed as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Like Zach said, if they would look at this specific law they would look at others that have been passed throughout time. Like others have also said, the Supreme Court will justify this new law with the constitution as attempting to make lives easier. Even though it is forcing people to make the purchase of health care which is infringing the rights of the people.

JVarsos said...

I agree with the general opinion here that the Supreme Court will not deem the new health care law unconstitutional. Although the mandatory purchase of health care infringes upon personal rights, it seems that the Court will uphold the legislation through the definition of interstate commerce, as we have brought up. However, I think the amount of time it took to pass the bill will (and should) not have any worth in the consideration of healthcare bill, as that does not determine constitutionality.

zhopp said...

i believe that the supreme court will rule the new health care law unconstitutional. by forcing citizens to pay for health care, the government is infringing upon their freedoms.

writer said...

I do not believe that the Supreme Court will declare the health care mandate unconstitutional. However, you can’t just claim “Yes, it is constitutional because the people want it. It is constitutional because it will give equal opportunity.” Or,"there was a lot of time spent on this bill, so it should pass." That has no impact constitutionally! You also cannot justify it by saying it is mandatory to have car insurance, so health insurance can also be mandatory. It is not mandatory for one to buy a car, but no one can completely avoid getting sick… No. The Supreme Court will declare this mandate constitutional because the commerce clause allows the government to regulate trade within states. Universal healthcare can mean that services will be being exchanged back and forth between states. The controversial idea that buying the insurance will be required or demanded can be sidestepped. What could the punishment be for those who refuse to take part in this “equal opportunity” plan? No direct punishment; the government will just “refuse” to give them healthcare of any sort. Is this the direction we want our country to go in?

eboecker said...

I do not believe the Supreme Court will declare the health care law unconstitutional. Over time, it appears that many countries tend to become increasingly more progressive and liberal (illustrated by the many revolutions in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, which sought to overthrow the remaining monarchies and conservative governments). Because America appears to be becoming more progressive, as it has been doing since FDR's New Deal, I believe that the Supreme Court will interpret the elastice clause very "elasticly," thereby upholding the law.

sscheidt said...

I think that most of us can agree that a mandatory health care is unconstitutional. The government would be gaining more control over the lives of American citizens, and telling people what health insurance they MUST buy is, in my opinion, a serious violation of rights. This country was built upon the idea of having freedom of choice. If the government gains the ability to control all Americans' health care, it won't be long before other rights are violated in the name of "equal opportunity". I do believe that all American citizens should have access to health care, but "equal opportunity" is not synonymous with the removal of choice. I think that the Supreme Court will and should interpret the health care law as unconstitutional. The health care law could be deemed constitutional under an incredibly broad interpretation of the commerce clause, but the problem is that the commerce clause is so stretched out already that it could technically include nearly all American commerce. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will acknowledge the fact that this law is an encroachment on the constitutional rights of the American people. In the end, health care is not something that should be monopolized by the government. Government issued mandatory health care is not constitutional, and it should NOT be legal.

moconnor said...

I do not believe the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. The new health care law is considered a form or interstate commerce and therefore cannot be considered unconstitutional. According to the
Commerce Clause in the first article in the Constitution, the U.S. Government has the power to regulate any form of commerce or trade between the state, including health care. Although I do think the new health care law will infringe on peoples rights by forcing them to purchase health care, i believe that the Supreme Court cannot declare the law unconstitutional because the Constitution says that the government has the power to regulate interstate commerce.

JBerlyn said...

I think the Supreme Court will not declare the health care law unconstitutional because they will interpret the law as the government's power to regulate interstate commerce. The supreme court will not view the bill as unconstitutional because the health care system has been in need of reform and the new system that would be put in place is something completely different from anything this nation has had in the past. This law will be allowed to exist, at least for the time being.

JScott said...

I think that the Supreme Court COULD declare it unconstitutional if they so choose. However, whether or not they will, in my opinion, will be determind by how our political culture changes (or doesn't change) in the near future. In all honesty, I do not think that the new law is economically safe, so why does anyone even consider it? The answer to that is our political culture. As of right now a good percent of Americans value equality and either being helped or helping those with less, witch the new law supports. However, we as Americans also value freedom
(including the freedom to choose to have health care or not), which the new law, some may argue, does not support. These two conflicting valuse will fight to the death and the winner will decide whether or not the new law lives or dies. And i think that our political culture is heading more towards to the second value, as shown with the issue of taxing salaries over 250,000 more. Is the the law morally sound and nice? I think so. Is it expensive? Also yes. Do we live in a country were only the rich, or at least the somewhat better off, deserve to afford medical care? Maybe. Is health care an extra that the fortunet may receive, or has it become an assumed necessity like a house or other form of shelter? We all like to believe that America is this magical relm where anyone may gain wealth if they work hard and are determind. However, and unfortunetly, that is not reality. It may happen, but it is not the absolute and unbreakable law that America is bound to.

twerner said...

No, I do not think that the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. There has been so much time and thought put into this bill that it would have all been time wasted if this law is considered so. Yes, the Supreme Court says that this new law would fit under the category of interstate commerce, but I personally think that this new law is unconstitutional.

J.Sardina said...

I do not believe that the Supreme Court will declare the new health care law unconstitutional. The court will most likely find the law to be defined as a regulated activity that is held under interstate commerce. Yet, many debate that the constitution does not give the federal government the power to require all citizens to purchase insurance. While constitutional interpretation may hold this belief to be true, people need to be reminded of the foundations of this law - the reason why it was enacted in the first place. In the current state of health care, those who choose to not purchase insurance, or to self-insure not only risk their own well being, but that of other citizens. It is inevitable that a person will need health care at some point, and when an uninsured patient seeks treatment they cannot afford the rest of society pays the bill in the form of taxes and higher costs.
Conservatives have created an "un-American" connotation with Obamacare. Yet, the law's justifiable constitutionality and core reasons why it was created should assure the Supreme Court and the American people its potential for success.

CAbbey said...

I believe that if the Judicial branch of the government strongly believes in the idea of a free America and a Capitalism, then the Obamacare healthcare package will be over turned. It is nowhere in the governments rights to tell us, the people, we have to buy anything at all. If the people of the United States want the government to be able to do this, then we might as well all pay 100% taxes and let the government feed us, clothe us, and brainwash us like the Socialist Soviet system of the USSR. Once we allow the government to expand its reach into our own private spending amongst other businesses beyond taxing, then the government will take that as the right of passage to the next step of taking over our lives. If such a large amount of states are filing a lawsuit against the government for this, isn't there something wrong with that? Besides the fact that it was an entire Democratic bill, seeing as there was not one single Republican who voted for it, wouldn't it make sense to make sure if the government is going to overhaul healthcare, to do it right and not "push it through Congress" just to say Obama "got something done?" Well yeah he got something done, but he went about it in a horrible fashion. If the bill is not ruled unconstitutional, scrapped and make Congress start over; then God help this country.

M. Francis said...

I hope they do. This is President Obama's one big piece of legistlature, and it would be great to have it be deemed "unconstitutional." It will be a close case, most likely 5 to 4 decision. According to the various news sources I have been listening to and watching, the swing vote will probably be Justice Kennedy. This health care law is unconstitutional in my opinion. This is America, we fear a large, powerful government. This law would give too much power to the federal government. The constitution does not grant the federal government this power, and neither should Kennedy and the Supreme Court.

emilyw said...

I believe that although the health care bill OS unconstitutional that the supreme court will still rule in favor of the bill due to the fact that the court does not like getting in the way of presidental decisions

Unknown said...

Even though this in the past, I believe that the Supreme Court would have declared the health care law unconstitutional. I think it is violating the right of the people to decide how they want to live their lives and make themselves happy. I believe that it should be one's choice to have health care or not have heath care, they should not be forced to.