Thought police: judge goes mental.

• Author: Suderman, Peter
• Position: Citings - Gladys Kessler

ARE YOUR thoughts your own? Not if U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler has anything to say about it. In February the D.C.-based judge ruled that Congress has the power to regulate "mental activity."

Kessler was rejecting a constitutional challenge to a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires everyone to purchase health insurance or pay a federal penalty. The five plaintiffs who brought the suit argued that all previous cases in which the Supreme Court had upheld legislation under the Commerce Clause involved regulation of a clearly identifiable activity. Not...