U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Fast-Track Constitutional Challenge to Health Care Law

The U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously declined to hear an expedited appeal of a lawsuit brought by Virginia’s Attorney General challenging the new health care law on constitutional grounds. A lower court judge ruled for Virginia in the case, holding that the individual mandate at the center of the law exceeds Congress’s power.

The case will now be heard by a federal appeals court, and after a decision is handed down there, may then be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Virginia had sought to skip this step and be heard immediately by the Supreme Court, a rare but not unusual step.

This lawsuit is separate from one brought by 26 other states.