Expert: Fla. verdict bolsters state’s case

OKLAHOMA CITY – A Florida judge’s ruling on the Obama administration’s health care law could buttress Oklahoma’s own lawsuit against the law, a legal expert said Thursday.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled that the Obama administration’s health care overhaul is unconstitutional, siding with the 26 states that sued to block it. Vinson accepted, without trial, the argument that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violated a person’s constitutional rights by forcing that person to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties.

Vinson’s argument also echoes the argument being made by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. In January, Pruitt announced that the state was filing its own lawsuit against the federal health care law, citing Oklahoma’s newly passed constitutional amendment against the proposal.

Vinson’s ruling, legal experts say, supports the AG’s claim.

“The theory put forth by our attorney general is pretty similar to the theory of Judge Vinson’s opinion,” said Oklahoma City attorney Robert McCampbell. “And it has some serious judicial backing. But that said, Judge (Ronald) White in Muskogee gets to make his own decision.”

McCampbell, an attorney with the Crowe and Dunlevy law firm, said Vinson’s ruling – and Pruitt’s lawsuit – focused on the unprecedented nature of what the health care act does. McCampbell said the debate over the health care law presented a fascinating issue for the courts, asking the question of whether the act of doing nothing can be regulated.

“It asks the question if the court can regulate noneconomic activity,” he said.

Health care experts said the case is destined for the U.S. Supreme Court.

“There is little question that the constitutionality of President Obama’s nationalized health insurance regime will ultimately end up at the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Ben Domenech, a research fellow for health care policy at The Heartland Institute, in a blog posting. Domenech said the measure could go before the court as early as the spring of 2012.

“If the court chose to expedite the case, it could be heard next year,” he said.

Yet while McCampbell and Domenech both predict the case will eventually make it to the country’s highest court, just what the court will do with the law remains difficult to predict.

“It’s almost impossible to predict,” Domenech said. “It could depend on how Justice Anthony Kennedy wakes up and what mood he’s in.”