Matt Schonert

Emerging from the Michigan Democratic Convention as the party’s nominee for state attorney general, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton promised to make consumer protection a top priority for the Michigan Attorney General’s office. He also told reporters that his first official act would be to dismiss the state’s pending lawsuit against certain portions of the federal health care reform act.

The federal lawsuit—brought by 20 state attorneys general, including Mike Cox of Michigan—challenges the legality of the “individual mandate,” a provision of Obamacare which requires individuals to purchase health insurance.

The attorney general’s sworn duty is to uphold the law and defend the constitutional rights of citizens. Part of this job entails advocating on behalf of the state’s interests in situations where other entities, including the federal government, undermine state law.

The central question in this lawsuit is whether it is legal for the federal government to force an individual—a consumer, you might say—to purchase a product or service against his will. At this level, the individual mandate is not only a legitimate constitutional question, but it is also precisely the type of cause that a self-styled consumer-advocate attorney general should consider taking up on behalf of Michigan residents.

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