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Judge Declares Health Care Law Unconstitutional

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A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's new health care law unconstitutional. The ruling is a victory for the Commonwealth's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Cuccinelli's lawsuit challenged the federal government's constitutional authority to force citizens to buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014.

The lawsuit was the logical extension of Virginia's Health Care Freedom Act, engineered largely by Prince William County State Delegate Bob Marshall, and passed by the state legislature in the spring. The law states that no Virginian can be required to obtain or maintain individual health insurance.

This victory for Cuccinelli comes a week after a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that went against Virginia. Cuccinelli had joined others in challenging the EPA's first ever limits on greenhouse-gas emissions.

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