After all, the only thing Judge Vinson (Federal District Court-FL) did was strike down a law Republicans hate. Trust me on this, that’s the meme we will be hearing from the media in the days to come regarding the decision to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act by Judge Vinson.
For most people, an “activist judge” is one whose opinions they don’t agree with. But Judge Vinson’s ruling today — that the entire health care law must be voided because he found one provision unconstitutional — really meets an indisputable definition of “activist.” […]
Simply ruling against the mandate puts any judge on the opposite side of the vast majority of expert legal opinion. But given just such ruling, a less “activist” judge could have stricken just the mandate, along with directly relevant provisions — like guaranteed issue and the ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. Vinson decided instead to “legislate from the bench” and scrap the subsidies, regulations, marketplaces, and other goodies the law creates that really have nothing to do with the mandate as well.
Brian Beutler at TPM is correct, of course. This is an example of extreme activism by a federal judge, but it won’t be portrayed that way by anyone outside of a few people on MsNBC. This means that health care reform that eliminates exclusions for pre-existing conditions and extends health insurance to your kids until the age of 26 are at risk. Those provisions are pretty important to me for my 21 year old son and my daughter). No doubt there is a provision in the law (eliminating the Medicare donut hole, health exchanges for people who cannot get health care anyplace else, etc.) that will impact you or someone you care about.
Yet, I doubt you will hear a peep from any Republican about Vinson’s activism. They will be cheering him as a true devotee of the Founders’ original intent. I can;t wait to see the first quotes from Republican politicians claiming that something James Madison or Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton said back in 1789 or 1803 or whatever year they choose supports Judge Vinson.
Now the question becomes whether the 11th Circuit will uphold Vinson’s extreme action. In any event this case is headed for the Supreme Court. So once again, we will be left to the mercy of Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court, since he is the swing vote on an issue like this one. I’ll but Justice Scalia or Roberts interns have already started to draft opinions arguing that what Judge Vinson did was all perfectly proper.
