Dicta! It’s Just Dicta!

Obiter dictum (noun, Latin):  An opinion voiced by a judge that has only incidental bearing on the case in question and is therefore not binding.

Where There’s a William makes a fascinating legal connection between two points brought up here:  the finding that Obamacare is unconstitutional by United States District Court of Northern Florida the and the Seventh Circuit’s 1982 decision in Bowers v. DeVito that I excerpted as Quote of the Day a couple of days ago.

Will’s point is perfectly logical and rational, so of course it must be wrong!  I can see the Left screaming that the Bowers declaration that

The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties; it tells the state to let people alone

is merely dicta, and not binding on any court.

Or, as Nancy Pelosi put it, “Are you serious?  Are you serious?

Edited to add:

No less a Constitutional scholar than our President, Barack Obama concurs with the court’s interpretation of the Constitution in Bowers:

http://static.photobucket.com/player.swfLonger excerpt available on YouTube.

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