On September 8, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a lower court’s decision striking down a portion of the federal health care reform law. The appeals court ruled that the State of Virginia lacked Article III standing to challenge the federal law, even though the federal mandate directly conflicted with a state law exempting Virginians from being forced to purchase health insurance. The decision was a setback for WLF, which filed a brief in the case urging the circuit court to affirm the district court’s ruling that the individual mandate is not authorized by the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In its brief, WLF argued that even the broadest Supreme Court precedents do not give Congress the authority to compel Americans to purchase a product they do not want.