June 30, 2011
— Ace The ruling was 2-1, two upholding, one dissenting, and urging the law be struck as unconstitutional.
But within that 2, the two judges were not of the same mind. The Democrat appointed judge thought the mandate was just peachy.
The Republican appointee who joined with him in the ruling, but wrote separately in a concurrence, seems ambivalent. His own concurrence seems to say that given the current ultra-liberal, virtually-no-limits jurisprudence on the Commerce Clause, this new power grab would probably pass muster.
But, he writes: perhaps it's time for a reconsideration of that "virtually no limits" reading of it.
That brings me to the lingering intuition — shared by most Americans, I suspect — that Congress should not be able to compel citizens to buy products they do not want. If Congress can require Americans to buy medical insurance today, what of tomorrow? Could it compel individuals to buy health care itself in the form of an annual check-up or for that matter a health-club membership? Could it require computer companies to sell medical-insurance policies in the open market in order to widen the asset pool available to pay insurance claims? And if Congress can do this in the health-care field, what of other fields of commerce and other products?
I suppose this just means, as we've always known, that the Supreme Court will have to rule on this.
One thing for Justice Switch-Hitter to consider is the untrammeled breadth of the claim of federal power offered by those supporting ObamaCare.
They are offering Kennedy a stark decision: Either bless this and confess there are virtually no limits on federal power whatsoever, at least according to those who supposedly interpret the Constitution, or start imposing some limits.
More... Critical Condition has more quotes.
More from Sutton's ambivalent "concurrence."
At one level, past is precedent, and one tilts at hopeless causes in proposing new categorical limits on the commerce power. But there is another way to look at these precedents—that the Court either should stop saying that a meaningful limit on Congress’s commerce powers exists or prove that it is so. The stakes of identifying such a limit are high.
I love that. Either stop pretending there are limits, or announce the limits.
Ilya Somin calls this "an exercise in overzealous judicial deference." That is, Sutton is very nearly screaming "This makes no damn sense and is offensive to the Constitution," but then says, "But these are my marching orders, from both Congress and the muddled mess of past court decisions, so march I shall."
If it's unconstitutional a judge is supposed to say so.
Conservatives favor judicial deference, sure -- but they are not supposed to favor it when doing so would result in reading out virtually all limits on Congressional power, a posture which is clearly unconstitutional and hence owed no deference or respect.
Update: I edited out another quote by Sutton, which is a bit of a jumble. But see the link for the quote.
Posted by: Ace at
10:25 AM
| Comments (96)
Post contains 519 words, total size 4 kb.
Shep Smith mocked the whole "Individual Mandate unconstitutional" argument yesterday.
For a dick, he's really a douche bag.
Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at June 30, 2011 10:29 AM (jx2j9)
Posted by: Dr Spank at June 30, 2011 10:30 AM (k0TKJ)
Posted by: Mark Halperin at June 30, 2011 10:33 AM (FcR7P)
Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at June 30, 2011 10:33 AM (FkKjr)
Communism fails, after murdering millions of their own citizens.
Socialism fails, after bankrupting and gelding most of their citizens
==Govt-regulated capitalism prospers, until the government and regulation become too powerful and intrusive.
therefore...........if communists and their socialist aschleckers try to take over a govt-regulated capitalist system, they should be stopped--by any means necessary
Posted by: SantaRosaStan, , petering out at June 30, 2011 10:34 AM (UqKQV)
Posted by: t-bird at June 30, 2011 10:36 AM (FcR7P)
Posted by: Call me Clueless at June 30, 2011 10:36 AM (SCwaH)
These idiot judges have too much respect for other idiot judges. Here's a clue: The Warren court got a lot of things wrong -- yes, even with good intentions. They left a lot of time-bombs in the law. Defuse them, don't keep setting them off.
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 10:36 AM (T0NGe)
When I saw this I thought what is this a libtard court but I saw 2-1 decision and thought yeah, 2 Clinton appointees but I guess not.
Posted by: Vic at June 30, 2011 10:37 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: Andy Warhol at June 30, 2011 10:37 AM (GGEUV)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at June 30, 2011 10:37 AM (lbo6/)
14 So now Liberty's torch is in Anthony Kennedy's hands?
The Universe yet again plays a cruel joke on humanity.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at June 30, 2011 10:39 AM (9hSKh)
More than that, it was NEVER intended to apply to Con Law. Stare Decisis was developed for The Common Law where no written law existed. It was not originally supposed to apply to any "written" law at all.
Just one more thing Ted Kennedy preached about constantly and was wrong.
Posted by: Vic at June 30, 2011 10:39 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: Call me Clueless at June 30, 2011 02:36 PM (SCwaH)
yes and no. Their written opinion will likely be a masterpiece of obfuscation
Posted by: SantaRosaStan, , petering out at June 30, 2011 10:40 AM (UqKQV)
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at June 30, 2011 10:42 AM (9hSKh)
I don't think this requires imposing limits, just recognizing the ones they've been ignoring for so long
Posted by: Edgar Bergen at June 30, 2011 10:43 AM (MMC8r)
Posted by: Dave at June 30, 2011 10:43 AM (Xm1aB)
14 So now Liberty's torch is in Anthony Kennedy's hands?
The Universe yet again plays a cruel joke on humanity.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at June 30, 2011 02:39 PM (9hSKh)
Yeah, makes about as much sense as the North Koreans being in charge of the UN DisArmament Council...
And Libya being head of the Human Rights Coucil...
And a Known Tax Cheat being charge of the IRS...
sometimes, you just can't make this stupid shit up...
Posted by: Romeo13 at June 30, 2011 10:44 AM (NtXW4)
Posted by: Jean at June 30, 2011 10:44 AM (WkuV6)
This is about the time I start rooting for President Rubio/Bachmann/Cain/Perry/Genuine Constitutional Conservative of your choice to pack the court with true conservative justices who can actually read the plain wording of the document and properly interpret its meaning, aided by a veto-proof Congress to be elected in 2012.
This shit has gone on long enough. When the SCOTUS ruled against the very simple language of the Fourteenth Amendment, we were screwed. It's been downhill ever since.
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at June 30, 2011 10:44 AM (d0Tfm)
Posted by: Serious Cat at June 30, 2011 10:45 AM (nwCkr)
Posted by: Bob Saget at June 30, 2011 10:47 AM (F/4zf)
Posted by: oblig. at June 30, 2011 10:48 AM (xvZW9)
...make it a law that all Americans spend 20 minutes a day meditating .
Mandatory Valu-Rite consumption. 8 oz./day.
Straight up, no chaser.
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at June 30, 2011 10:49 AM (d0Tfm)
Posted by: logprof at June 30, 2011 10:51 AM (BP6Z1)
It's almost like he's challenging the SCOTUS to rein this shit in...
Posted by: nickless at June 30, 2011 10:55 AM (MMC8r)
Hate to say it, but this Judge DID rule based on prior Precedent...
When the Supremes rule that a Farmer cannot grow feed, for his OWN chickens, on his OWN Land, without somehow falling under the INTERSTATE Commerce Clause, then it is all encompassing according to that Precedent.
After all, they WERE controlling his LACK of Commerce in that case.
Its is however, a very flawed Precedent.
Posted by: Romeo13 at June 30, 2011 10:55 AM (NtXW4)
Seriously.
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at June 30, 2011 10:55 AM (bxiXv)
Posted by: Dave at June 30, 2011 10:56 AM (Xm1aB)
But aren't Federal Judges supposed to follow what the Supreme Court put down?
In other words, he's saying "Hey the Supreme Court has basically shown there is no limit at all to the Commerce Clause. So I'm going to say that this passes muster because MY BOSSES have told me so."
Isn't that what Federal Judges are supposed to do? Follow what they believe the Supreme Court has told them?
Posted by: BoB at June 30, 2011 10:56 AM (+c0cJ)
Posted by: t-bird at June 30, 2011 10:57 AM (FcR7P)
Posted by: Dave at June 30, 2011 02:56 PM (Xm1aB)
Hah! We could flip a coin on C-Span to make our decision and we'd face no consequences.
Posted by: The Supreme Court at June 30, 2011 10:57 AM (FkKjr)
Yeah, pretty much. Plain language and original intent say it is. Besides, the 10th amendment supercedes the interstate commerce clause, so there's that.
There is way too much fecklessness here. It's like he never wants to ever declare anything to be unconstitutional.
But this shows the poison of law schools and precedents. These dumb judges can't think for themselves, they need somebody else to think for them.
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 10:58 AM (T0NGe)
You know, as a judge, when you start disagreeing with your own concurrences *as you make them*, it's time to hang up the robe.
If a thing can't possibly be done, then it must be done impossibly.
The question is, how?
Posted by: garrett paraphrasing Dirk Gently at June 30, 2011 10:58 AM (XOK/H)
Don't you all just love living in a country where the media decides which are the details we need not concern our pretty little heads with?
I hope Palin's movie is a signal that she is going to jump in and run a Kick-the-MSM-in-the-Balls campaign, because I have the feeling that there is a vast reservoir of resentment against the media that is bigger then even we imagine. Mine is already so bad that I can barely avoid going Tourettesville when I read the newspaper.
Posted by: sherlock at June 30, 2011 10:58 AM (U+goV)
Posted by: nickless at June 30, 2011 10:59 AM (MMC8r)
Posted by: nerdygirl at June 30, 2011 10:59 AM (R/hMr)
@7: "if communists and their socialist aschleckers try to take over a govt-regulated capitalist system, they should be stopped--by any means necessary"
Oooooh....I'm gonna have to go ahead and ahhhhhh....disagree with you there. See, ahhhhhhh....most of us here on the Right are basically cool with socialism, 'kay? Yeah. So, while we do allow tepid voting to slow its implementation, we don't really actually do anything to stop it.
Besides, we can't ahhhhhhh....sink to their level. We know they are impressed with our manners and politesse. And when they ahhhhhhh....kill us in the extermination camps, we will die holding the moral high ground. Soooooo, yeah.
Oh, and remember: next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans.
Posted by: Bill Lumbergh at June 30, 2011 10:59 AM (xy9wk)
Posted by: Bill Lumbergh at June 30, 2011 02:59 PM (xy9wk)
And besides.... Socialists put on the BEST Cocktail parties... but you have to be kewl to get invited...
Posted by: Meaghan McCain at June 30, 2011 11:01 AM (NtXW4)
Posted by: t-bird at June 30, 2011 11:01 AM (FcR7P)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at June 30, 2011 11:02 AM (lbo6/)
OK, now what bearing does this have on anything exactly?
Posted by: ASK-21 at June 30, 2011 11:03 AM (19p8d)
Precedent is crap. It's turtles upon turtles. Fruit from the poisoned judge. If plain language or original intent is informative, that needs to be used first.
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 11:03 AM (T0NGe)
and it's regulated by...Kevin Bacon!
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 11:05 AM (T0NGe)
I call that bold talk, from a one eyed bellhead.
Posted by: Chariots of Toast at June 30, 2011 11:05 AM (XyjRQ)
But he is not a natural born citizen. Do we have laws in this country? You know, ones that matter?
Posted by: elspeth at June 30, 2011 11:05 AM (0AkWH)
But he is not a natural born citizen. Do we have laws in this country? You know, ones that matter?
Posted by: elspeth at June 30, 2011 03:05 PM (0AkWH)
Umm...what? He was born in Miami.
Posted by: Tami at June 30, 2011 11:08 AM (X6akg)
Posted by: progressoverpeace at June 30, 2011 03:03 PM (G/MYk)
The key question though, in this case, is can the Federal Governemnt force you to buy somthing.
The Supremes told a Farmer, that he must destroy his home grown Chicken feed, and thus BUY it off the market, because under Commerce clause, his not buying it would affect prices, and quotas, which the US Congress had mandated UNDER their Commerce Clause power.
Thus, they Forced said Farmer into Buying somthing... AND illegaly took his property (destroyed the feed) without due compensation.
As I said... REALLY bad law and precedent... but that is what the Supremes did, so that is what this Judge had to work with.
Posted by: Meaghan McCain at June 30, 2011 11:08 AM (NtXW4)
Posted by: progressoverpeace at June 30, 2011 03:03 PM (G/MYk)
New House Rules:
you MUST play at the Blackjack Table.
It doesn't matter what you are holding or what the dealer is showing -
you MUST double down.
Try not to Win.
We would find it, upsetting.
Good Luck! and Enjoy your stay.
Posted by: Welcome to Uncle Sam's Casino at June 30, 2011 11:09 AM (XOK/H)
But he is not a natural born citizen.
Yes he is. That bullshit that birthers (full disclosure, I was an "Obama is an ass for not releasing it and has something to hide"-style birther) were pulling to try to move the goalposts was just crap. A "natural born citizen" is one who does not need to be naturalized. Period. End of discussion. WorldNetDaily is not a controlling legal authority.
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 11:10 AM (T0NGe)
Posted by: Oldsailor's poet at June 30, 2011 11:11 AM (NtTkA)
Small difference, though. That farmer could have sold his chickens, too. He was not required to buy feed.
The Mandate requires purchase or penalty for all people just for being alive.
Posted by: nickless at June 30, 2011 11:12 AM (MMC8r)
The Mandate requires purchase or penalty for all people just for being alive.
Wonder how they'll feel about home births if this thing sticks.
Posted by: garrett at June 30, 2011 11:14 AM (XOK/H)
Posted by: Alabaster Jones at June 30, 2011 11:17 AM (GIeoW)
Posted by: nickless at June 30, 2011 03:12 PM (MMC8r)
Unless you have an exemption, or are Mormon, or 7th day Advent, or Moslem, or... (have to read up, but there are many who do not fall under the mandate).
And Actualy, I'd use THAT argument to further destroy the mandate... its a STARK case of the Congress passing a law which favors one relgion, over another.
Posted by: Romeo13 at June 30, 2011 11:17 AM (NtXW4)
Well, since Marbury v Madison that is true. Or at least they say so.
Posted by: Vic at June 30, 2011 11:17 AM (M9Ie6)
They (the Framers) never intended any citizen to be compelled to purchase anything and it's about time the judiciary stopped making things up to suit their political views and serve their political masters. They have invented rights and laws far outside the intent of our Founders wildest dreams.
The role of the judiciary in the Constitution in practically zero for a reason. And that reason is their tyrannical usurpation and corruption of democratic process was easily and rightly predicted. They are an unelected branch and don't serve the people, they serve themselves like the kings our Founders resoundingly despised.
This nonsense that the Framers knew changes to laws and rights by the judiciary was a natural progression necessary for our country's survival is pure bunk. They created a specific process for amending the Constitution which ensures a majority approves of such changes. But it has been obfuscated by a minority that seeks to impose their tyrannical ideology upon us without our consent or approval. And this latest intrusion by Obama is proof their intent is malicious and destructive. It also exposes liberal judges for what they really are; kings in robes that want to rule whimsically by fiat and force of hand.
When will we say- enough?
Posted by: Marcus at June 30, 2011 11:18 AM (CHrmZ)
Juan Williams? Better than Shep I suppose.
Posted by: Retread at June 30, 2011 11:24 AM (G+7cD)
Posted by: nick at June 30, 2011 11:26 AM (mX+Ab)
Weights and measures, and forbidding intra-state tariffs and restrictions ( like California's border fruit police ) come to mind as a correct implentation of federal laws.
Forbidding federal meddling once a good is inside a state and stays there is another ( no more regulation of locally sold raw milk, or farmers who raise their own pig feed, for example ).
Any suggestions for a good bulletproof wording?
Posted by: Kristopher at June 30, 2011 11:27 AM (JLIMw)
Posted by: ace at June 30, 2011 03:22 PM (nj1bB)
She's your foreign-born mother, your American-born sister, your foreign-born mother...
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 11:28 AM (T0NGe)
She's your foreign-born mother, your American-born sister, your foreign-born mother...
Posted by: AmishDude at June 30, 2011 03:28 PM (T0NGe)
*SLAP*
Posted by: Tami at June 30, 2011 11:30 AM (X6akg)
A "natural born citizen" is one who does not need to be naturalized. Period. End of discussion. WorldNetDaily is not a controlling legal authority.
But...but...you don't understand! Rubio's parents weren't naturalized when he was born here, ERGO he has a "dual allegiance" to the US and Cuba. NEVER MIND that his family fled Cuba and the Castro regime.
(to believe that nonsense you need to be crazy as a rat in a Harlan county meth lab)
Posted by: Jim Sonweed at June 30, 2011 11:34 AM (FVhEi)
@42: "Isn't that what Federal Judges are supposed to do? Follow what they believe the Supreme Court has told them?"
Yes. Inferior courts have to follow the rulings of superior courts.
Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at June 30, 2011 11:58 AM (xy9wk)
Please address that question!!!!!
Face it: your claim is nothing more than an idiosyncratic application of reasoning that applied 200 years ago, when we were a new country fearful of foreigners coming here to subvert it. We've had fifty million people emigrate to the US since, and we pride ourselves as being a "nation of immigrants". So the fears of the late 18th/early 19th centuries are well behind us, and---as you say yourself---dual citizenship is common today.
AND there is absolutely no American case law (as opposed to the vague wording of the Constitution) to support your position. If McCain was eligible, with his "dual allegiance" and birth on foreign soil, so his Rubio, who I'm sure has no "allegiance" to Castro or Cuba.
(If you want to make the "Manchurian Candidate" argument, go right ahead.)
btw: Chester A Arthur remained president, did he not? Or was he impeached for being ineligible? Were the bills he signed into law invalidated?
Posted by: Jim Sonweed at June 30, 2011 11:58 AM (FVhEi)
If Justice Weathervane decides the federal government has all the power the current wielders claim it has, will you comply?
Posted by: Ken at June 30, 2011 12:04 PM (fFh95)
He did exactly as he was supposed to do. Rule in accordance with current precedent from SCOTUS, which, considering the whole "You can't grow corn on your own property for your own use because, you know, interstate commerce and all" would indicate that congress has essentially unfettered power in the commerce clause.
While simultaneously writing an opinion in concurrence stating that this is the logical conclusion to the line of thinking SCOTUS used in that decision. And given that conclusion, now both inarguable and obvious regarding abuse of government power, perhaps SCOTUS should revisit that thinking and propose a more limiting standard as to what "regulate interstate commerce" really is intended to mean.
Because that was the states argument in the whole corn feed debacle, that the Citizen growing his own corn allowed him to *NOT* participate in interstate commerce and buy feed. That change in participation was an effect, and therefore congress could regulate and control it. And Congress could make laws preventing someone from *NOT* participating. And that is what this is, congress making a law stating you cannot *NOT* participate.
On a personal note if SCOTUS upholds Obamacare, I will personally consider federalism and the Constitution dead, the social contract willfully broken by the Federal Government, and this and all following law pursuant to the regulation of private lives at the federal level as openly subjecting me and my follow citizens. Our system of checks and balances will have, in my mind ,officially and irrevocably failed.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose at June 30, 2011 12:12 PM (0q2P7)
Minor v. Happersett – wherein the Supreme Court stated:
The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their [88 U.S. 162, 168] parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first. For the purposes of this case it is not necessary to solve these doubts.
So, to paraphrase, the Supreme Court, in this decision, said there was reason to 'doubt' if a person born of Foreign Nationals, on American soil, was a "Natural Born Citizen", but did not feel the need to clarify it IN THIS CASE.
And those doubts, as far as I can tell, have never been adjudicated.
As to McCain? The Senate did weigh in, with a NON BINDING Resolution in his case... but did not even bother to pass an actual law about it... and IF it had ever gone to court, it would have been an interesting case...
IMO we had the First Ever Presidential Election, where we had not ONE, not TWO, but THREE Non Natural Born folks running for President... (there was a guy on the ballot for some Socialist Party who was not even born anywhere near America who was on some ballots).
Posted by: Romeo13 at June 30, 2011 12:12 PM (NtXW4)
Posted by: MikeTheMoose at June 30, 2011 12:24 PM (asIUv)
That was in fact my point. That McCain even if he was eligible to be a dual citizen since he was born in Panama never was by virtue of the fact that he never claimed to be anything other than a Citizen of the US. My broader point was that if you were born a US citizen even if you are eligible to be a dual citizen, you can still be "naturally born" if you never claim an alternate citizenship. Because Citizenship is an affirmative status that must be declared like marriage. Not a passive one that can be merely conferred by a sovereign.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose at June 30, 2011 01:51 PM (0q2P7)
That transfer is not passive and requires declaration. Your parents must stand up for you and declare you a Citizen by birth.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose at June 30, 2011 02:27 PM (0q2P7)
Given the prevalence of such
Americans, one would think here would be an interest in having the
Court rule one way or another on it, or a Constitutional amendment
detailing exactly what the story is ... but, until then it's an open
question that many of us have pretty firm ideas about and those on the
other side never seem to want to have the problem actually resolved,
just waving it off, instead.
-----------------
That's far different than asserting that the matter is clear and settled, as you and the birthers have done.
This issue will be resolved via (a) a constitutional amendment clearly defining the qualifications for POTUS, or (b) a Supreme Court decision based on an actual "case or controversy". The Supremes do not issue advisory opinions, so someone would have to sue to keep Rubio, or Barack, or Jindal or whoever off state presidential ballots on the basis of their ineligibility.
The politics of the latter would be hugely bad for the GOP .
If the Court decided, as I think it would, that "natural-born" must NOW encompass the millions born here to legal immigrants, at least, the birthers would have unnecessarily alienated millions of immigrant voters and their native-born citizen offspring
Face it: ain't gonna fly.
Posted by: Mohammed Atta at June 30, 2011 02:44 PM (FVhEi)
-------------------
The problem for you is that McCain provides a hefty counter to your opinion.
His case is not legal precedent, but it's historical precedent, as was the case of Chester A. Arthur.
You think the Supremes will issue a holding that invalidates McCain's candidacy, as well as Barack's presidency, because both held this "dual allegiance" you keep yammering about?
Lemme boil it down for you:
Barack: born in the US with one immigrant parent,
McCain: born outside the US, with two citizen parents
You would apparently disqualify both.
Good frackin' luck.
Posted by: Jim Sonweed at June 30, 2011 02:53 PM (FVhEi)
Posted by: Buried Secrets AudioBook at June 30, 2011 04:27 PM (hc7H2)
Posted by: Sexy corsets at June 30, 2011 04:41 PM (2g7zz)
For someone like me, who agrees with Vic that if you're born here, you're natural - born (except for the children of embassy officials and the like, as set forth in the 14th amendment), the issue is not really that important today. Is there really a valid concern today that Bobby Jindal, for example, would have conflicts of "dual allegiance" to India? If you think that, then you should push for a constitutional amendment requiring dual citizens to renounce their other citizenship before they can become POTUS or VPOTUS. Then let the electorate decide if they are really "straws", "running horses" (as the chicoms used to say) or "Manchurian Candidates.
Right now, at least, most would agree that as a country we have far bigger fish to fry.
Posted by: Jim Sonweed at June 30, 2011 07:46 PM (FVhEi)
What could possibly go wrong stating such a milk toast vision?
Posted by: drfredc at June 30, 2011 11:01 PM (q3wL1)
Posted by: jordanx5 at July 04, 2011 12:46 AM (W4cM9)
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People need to sh_t or get off the pot
Posted by: SantaRosaStan, , petering out at June 30, 2011 10:28 AM (UqKQV)