Nielsen’s Nook

States Rights

It's interesting to me that in the relatively minute history of the United States, concern over states rights seems to be invoked at times when the Federal Government is insisting that states take care of their disenfranchised citizens.

The suit argues that the legislation's mandate that individuals purchase health insurance exceeds the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce under the U.S. Constitution. And it asserts that Virginia has standing to sue over the issue because of a new state law that prohibits the mandate in the state. "The collision between the state and federal schemes also creates an immediate, actual controversy involving antagonistic assertions of right," Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli writes in the suit.¹

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¹ Rosalind Helderman, "Virginia sues Sebelius, federal government over health overhaul", Washington Post, March 23, 2010.