Unconstitutional: Judge Axes Health Reform Law Over 'Individual Mandate'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2011 -- A federal judge in Florida struck down a key element of the Obama administration's health care law, ruling that a requirement for Americans to buy health insurance is unconstitutional and the rest of the law cannot stand without it.

Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida ruled that the individual mandate, which requires individuals to purchase health care by 2014 or pay a penalty, "exceeds Congress' commerce power."

While Vinson ruled the law is unconstitutional, he does allow the government to continue implementing it pending appeal.

The ruling marks the first time a federal judge has said the entire law should be struck down.

"I must conclude that the individual mandate and the remaining provisions are all inextricably bound together in purpose and must stand or fall as a single unit," the judge ruled.

Florida, joined by 25 states, brought the lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act, arguing that Congress did not have the authority to force an individual to enter a marketplace or buy a particular good or service.

The states argued that while Congress could regulate economic activity, it could not regulate "inactivity" such as an individual's choice to refrain from buying health care insurance.

For a look at the myriad of lawsuits challenging the health overhaul law, click here.

Vinson agreed, writing that it would be, "a radical departure" to hold that Congess cound regulate inactivity.

"It is not hyperbolizing to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted," he wrote.