A federal court of appeals threw out Virginia’s legal challenge to Obamacare and with it, the principles of federalism and state sovereignty.

Thursday, the three-judge panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously held that the state of Virginia lacks jurisdiction to challenge the twin federal health care measures passed in 2010 and known collectively as Obamacare.
In their decision, the federal judges held that “Virginia ... lacks standing to bring this action. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of the district court and remand with instructions to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
 
Of all the unconstitutional elements included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it is the individual mandate that Virginia (and the 28 other states that have filed similar complaints) finds most irksome and offensive to its sovereignty.

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Illustration: The Lewis F. Powell, Jr. United States Courthouse, Richmond, Virginia