The Supreme Court will determine next Thursday whether it wants to hear several appeals challenging President Obama's 2010 health care law, but the court's docket reveals Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's petition is not included.
"The reason we are not yet included while the five other cases are, is because the U.S. Justice Department filed response briefs ahead of deadline for the other five cases, but has not yet filed a response brief for our case," Cuccinelli spokesperson Brian Gottstein said. "Though the deadline for the Virginia petition is Nov. 3, there is no publicly-available explanation as to why the DOJ has decided to wait on our brief."
In his original suit filed on behalf of the commonwealth, Cuccinelli argued that Obama's health care legislation misuses congressional power by mandating that citizens purchase health care insurance. Cuccinelli argued that this would infringe upon the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act, which prohibits the government on the federal and state levels from requiring citizens to purchase health insurance.
Cuccinelli's lawsuit was thrown out by a federal appellate court in Virginia Sept. 8 on the basis that the commonwealth lacks standing to sue on behalf of its citizens.
Cuccinnelli remains confident in his appeal, however.
"The attorney general feels if the Supreme Court takes the case, we have a slightly better than even chance to prevail," Gottstein said.
-compiled by Elizabeth Heifetz
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