Fla. judge says health care law unconstitutional

A federal judge in Florida says the Obama administration’s health overhaul is unconstitutional, siding with 26 states, including Louisiana, that have sued to block it. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of Pensacola today accepted without trial the states’ argument that the new law violates people’s rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties. Attorneys for the administration had argued that the states did not have standing to challenge the law and that the case should be dismissed. The case is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Two other federal judges have upheld the insurance requirement, but a federal judge in Virginia also ruled the insurance requirement unconstitutional.