A federal judge in Virginia has found a key provision of the healthcare law unconstitutional, the first such ruling on President Obama’s landmark reform.

Judge Henry E. Hudson of the Eastern District Court in Richmond, appointed by George W. Bush, ruled that the law’s mandate that all Americans have a minimum level of coverage, or pay a fine if they do not, exceeds federal authority.

Virginia’s Republican Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, challenged the law by rejecting the federal government’s view that the mandate is enforceable under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The state was seeking an injunction against the entire healthcare act if the mandate was found unconstitutional.

Source: WDBJ