Both CNN and Fox, in a race to get the story on-air first, inaccurately reported that the individual mandate had been found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
In fact, the court affirmed the constitutionality of the individual mandate, under congress' authority to tax.
In his opinion, Chief Justice Roberts initially said that the individual mandate was not a valid exercise of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause. CNN reported that fact, but then wrongly reported that therefore the court struck down the mandate as unconstitutional. However, that was not the whole of the Court's ruling. CNN regrets that it didn't wait to report out the full and complete opinion regarding the mandate. We made a correction within a few minutes and apologize for the error.
Fox, however, ducked an apology and claimed they “reported the facts, as they came in.”
CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin explained to John King “we had to sit till the end” of Robert's reading to understand that the mandate had been upheld.
Yes, when there's a law affecting millions of Americans in front of the Supreme Court, it might help to “sit till the end.”
