# Supreme Court will invalidate health care legislation because it violates states rights **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093 "2010-03-28T07:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/21 "2010-03-28T20:50:11Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Mods, should this thread be merged with other ones debating this issue, like [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=556773) and/ or [this one?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=557335) Those are threads about the individual mandate, which is not really a violation of state rights. The issue there is the power of the government to tax people into doing something. What Napolitano is talking about is the Federal government conditioning federal funds on States creating certain health care regulations. As pointed out, this practice has been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/22 "2010-03-28T20:55:06Z")
> [@NotreDame05](#): > > Well I do not know the answer to this question but are we talking about parallel examples? Has Congress conditioned the receipt of money on the basis the states A.) modify their health care regulation in certain areas B.) surrender the regulation in other areas and C.) spend state taxpayer-generated dollars in a way that the Congress wants it done. Like, for instance, medicare reimbursement. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/23 "2010-03-28T20:55:30Z")
Linda Greenhouse of the _New York Times_, who has been covering the SCOTUS since forever, and who knows the justices very well, says there’s very little chance the health care law will be overturned by them, in [this](http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/which-side-of-history/?scp=2&sq=linda%20greenhouse&st=cse)piece. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/24 "2010-03-29T00:14:02Z")
And for what it’s worth, I’m a conservative who would love to see this law go down in flames, and an invenerate court-watcher to boot. I think the chances of this law being overturned on ANY grounds - states rights’, taxation power, or other -is vanishingly tiny. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/25 "2010-03-29T00:38:53Z")
I recall the same arguments being made over the national 55 mph speed limit, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a number of other federal programs, many of which have come with unfunded mandates for the states. None of them have succeeded. I don’t know why this would be any different. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/26 "2010-03-29T00:44:49Z")
This one contains no mandates for the states anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/27 "2010-03-29T02:08:17Z")
No landmark SCOTUS decision has ever been based on the [Tenth Amendment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) and this ain’t gonna be the first. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/28 "2010-03-29T02:43:12Z")
Unless this Napolitano dude is currently one of the nine justices on the Supreme Court, I don’t really give a shit what he thinks about the law. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093/29 "2010-03-29T02:59:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No landmark SCOTUS decision has ever been based on the [Tenth Amendment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) and this ain’t gonna be the first. US v New York, Printz v US. Schechter v US fits as a landmark decision. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-will-invalidate-health-care-legislation-because-it-violates-states-rights/534093.md?page=1)