On Wednesday, May 4, the more than two dozen states that won a lower court decision by U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson, declaring the mandate provision unconstitutional, filed a motion urging the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to uphold Judge Vinson’s ruling.  According to the argument filed by the states, if the health care law is allowed to be implemented, it “would set a troubling precedent that ‘would imperil individual liberty, render Congress’s other enumerated powers superfluous, and allow Congress to usurp the general police power reserved to the states.’”  A three-judge panel of the Appeals Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the appeal on June 8.

In the meantime, the first appellate hearing on the constitutionality of the health care reform law was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 10, in Richmond, Virginia, before the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. 

It is anticipated that the outcomes of these hearings will bring the controversy to the US Supreme Court.