ACLJ Readies For SCOTUS ObamaCare Battle: Will Represent More Than 100 Members of Congress Urging High Court To Declare Health Care Law Unconstitutional

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which has been involved in the legal challenge of ObamaCare since the beginning, said today's announcement by the Supreme Court of the United States that it will hear constitutional challenges to ObamaCare is encouraging and should bring clarity to a law that most Americans oppose.

"This is the day we have been waiting for," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "It was clear that ObamaCare would ultimately be decided by the high court when it was signed into law nearly 20 months ago. By taking these cases, the high court can bring clarity and end the confusion about a law that most Americans have consistently opposed. We have argued from the beginning that ObamaCare - including the individual mandate - is unconstitutional. We will be representing more than 100 members of Congress and tens of thousands of Americans in our amicus brief urging the high court to reject this flawed health care law. It's our hope that the high court will reach the conclusion that the individual mandate, which forces Americans to purchase insurance, violates the constitution and that the entire health care law cannot be implemented."

Just weeks ago, the ACLJ filed an amicus brief with the high court urging the Justices to take the Florida case. The ACLJ urged the high court to tackle the individual mandate question, calling it a "matter of national importance." The brief argued that "even though the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit correctly held that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, it wrongly severed only the individual mandate from the ACA." Further, the brief contended: "The individual mandate, by the Federal Government's own admission, is the essential component of the ACA. Should this Court also rule the individual mandate unconstitutional, it should decide to what extent (if any) the individual mandate can be severed from the rest of the ACA."

In that brief, the ACLJ represented 105 members of Congress and thousands of Americans. The ACLJ is now preparing an amicus brief to file with the Supreme Court in the cases granted today.

"With a decision by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of ObamaCare now just months away, we will adding more members of Congress and concerned Americans to our amicus brief," said Sekulow. "What's clear is that opposition to ObamaCare continues to grow - in the halls of Congress and in the public arena."

In its own lawsuit challenging ObamaCare, the ACLJ will file its Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court within the next few weeks appealing last week's decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which failed to reinstate its federal lawsuit and disagreed with the ACLJ's argument that the individual mandate violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the ACLJ is based in Washington, D.C. and is online at aclj.org.

MEDIA  CONTACTS:
For Print: Gene Kapp  (757) 575-9520
For Broadcast:  Chandler Epp or Michelle Farmer (770) 813-0000

SOURCE American Center for Law and Justice