Letters: Story about principle, not result

Please allow me to gently protest the headline to your July 11 story on the Ronald Reagan Newsmakers Luncheon forum on the recent health-care decision.

It was not my position that Justice John Roberts was right and that the Supreme Court was correct in finding the law constitutional. I repeatedly emphasized that once the Commerce Clause underpinning of the law was declared unconstitutional that the entire law should have been thrown out, especially since neither side argued the tax issue, and that it was in my opinion a “reach” for Roberts to address it.

My comments focused on the long-term importance of limits being finally placed on the Commerce Clause, while my remarks about judicial restraint and deference to Congress were to show, given the outcome, what might be considered a silver lining that will prove useful in future cases. I was quoted accurately in explaining Roberts’ use of this principle, but I do not agree with the result.

Jeff Hughes, judge
1st Circuit Court of Appeal

Denham Springs