Federal District Court Judge Henry Hudson surprised no one when he opined this morning that the individual mandate was unconstitutional.
Much more interesting was his decision to deny an injunction and to sever Section 1501 [the individual mandate] from the rest of the law, despite the lack of a clear severability clause (due to a snafu in the Senate). Both are clear victories for the Obama Administration, and put the insurance industry in the position of begging for a slightly different form of Section 1501 that could pass constitutional muster. Otherwise, they will be subject to adverse selection by health people opting out.
