Lower Court Holding in Florida et al. v. HHS et al.
Decision of the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Legal issues concerning the constitutionality of a legislative act present important but difficult questions for the courts. Here, that importance and difficulty are heightened because the [Patient Protection and Affordable Care] Act itself is 975 pages in the format published in the Public Laws; the district court, agreeing with the plaintiffs, held all of the Act was unconstitutional; and on appeal, the government argues all of the Act is constitutional. We, as all Federal courts, must begin with a presumption of constitutionality, meaning that “we invalidate a congressional enactment only upon a plain showing that Congress has exceeded its constitutional…
