Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli submitted a petition Friday to the U.S. Supreme Court appealing his health care lawsuit, which had been struck down by a federal appellate court in Richmond early last month.
Cuccinelli filed the lawsuit in response to President Obama's March 2010 federal health care legislation. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a part of the federal legislation, will require nearly every U.S. citizen to purchase health insurance by 2014.
Cuccinelli contends that Obama's mandate unconstitutionally oversteps the bounds of the federal government. Cuccinelli also claims the law violates the Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act, which prohibits any government, federal or state, from mandating that citizens own health insurance.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Cuccinelli's challenge to the federal legislation Sept. 8, ruling that the attorney general, on behalf of the commonwealth of Virginia, did not have legal standing to bring the case to court.
Cuccinelli fired back, emphasizing states' Constitutional powers.
"The Founding Fathers fully intended that the states would serve as a check on federal power," Cuccinelli said in a statement. "When the Fourth Circuit ruled that Virginia lacked standing to defend a duly enacted state law from federal preemption, it took away much of the states' ability to serve that function."
Cuccinelli then submitted an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes that the high court will rule differently on the health care legislation issue.
The Department of Justice had also submitted a similar petition to the Supreme Court last Wednesday, asking the court to review a case brought by Florida that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled unconstitutional.
There is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will hear the case, however. The court can take up one, all or any combination of the health care suits it wants, Cuccinelli spokesperson Brian Gottstein said in an email.
Cuccinelli will continue to push for the Supreme Court to hear his case, despite the Fourth Circuit Court's dismissal.
"The question of standing is whether a particular party can bring a lawsuit, and what the Fourth Circuit said was that Cuccinelli doesn't have authority to bring a lawsuit in this case," Law School Prof. Rich Schragger said. "The issue of standing is complicated, but only certain people can bring lawsuits
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