A case filed in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, argues that federal health care legislation is unconstitutional.
A recent move by an international law firm puts that organization's support behind Attorney General Cox.
The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday, on behalf of the Attorney General.
ACLJ Senior Counsel Ed White maintains that the legislation oversteps constitutional boundaries.
"We've been filing amicus briefs, urging a position that Congress doesn't have the authority to control people's decisions. If Congress can require all Americans to purchase health care or to pay a penalty, there's no reason why Congress can't require all Americans to join a health club, to eat a certain diet, or to run five miles a day for health reasons."
White also says Michigan's Attorney General appealed the case to the Sixth Circuit after a federal judge upheld the health care legislation.
"The federal judge in Detroit had said that a person sitting in his or her house and deciding not to purchase health care is an economic decision, and therefore is the equivalent of economic activity -- and therefore, Congress can regulate that."
White contends that the individual mandate requiring most Americans to buy health insurance or to pay a penalty establishes a risky precedent for congressional authority.
White says the next step in the case will be for the federal government to file a brief outlining its position. He expects that to happen by mid-January.
In addition to filing the friend-of-the-court brief on Michigan's behalf, White says the ACLJ filed its own federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., challenging health care legislation.
A recent move by an international law firm puts that organization's support behind Attorney General Cox.
The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday, on behalf of the Attorney General.
ACLJ Senior Counsel Ed White maintains that the legislation oversteps constitutional boundaries.
"We've been filing amicus briefs, urging a position that Congress doesn't have the authority to control people's decisions. If Congress can require all Americans to purchase health care or to pay a penalty, there's no reason why Congress can't require all Americans to join a health club, to eat a certain diet, or to run five miles a day for health reasons."
White also says Michigan's Attorney General appealed the case to the Sixth Circuit after a federal judge upheld the health care legislation.
"The federal judge in Detroit had said that a person sitting in his or her house and deciding not to purchase health care is an economic decision, and therefore is the equivalent of economic activity -- and therefore, Congress can regulate that."
White contends that the individual mandate requiring most Americans to buy health insurance or to pay a penalty establishes a risky precedent for congressional authority.
White says the next step in the case will be for the federal government to file a brief outlining its position. He expects that to happen by mid-January.
In addition to filing the friend-of-the-court brief on Michigan's behalf, White says the ACLJ filed its own federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., challenging health care legislation.