The first court hearing over federal health reform began in Richmond, Va., July 1, where the Virginia Attorney General’s Office argued the law exceeds the limits on federal government described in the U.S. Constitution.

Virginia Solicitor General E. Duncan Getchell Jr. told U.S.. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson that the government’s requirement that individuals buy private health insurance would be “unprecedented,” according to the Washington Post. Getchell also called the law “ahistorical” and “radical.”

The Obama Administration’s lawyers argued that the law is appropriate and legal, given the national health care crisis, the newspaper reported.

Hudson must now decide if the federal government’s request to dismiss the suit should be granted. He said he would decide if the case can move forward within 30 days.

The suit, filed by Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli is one of a handful arguing the law is unconstitutional. A second one, filed in Florida, pits attorneys general in 20 states against the government, arguing that states will lose their constitutional freedom if forced to expand Medicaid programs required under the law.

The hearing in Virginia came the same day a new law took effect in the state, prohibiting an individual insurance mandate. Cuccinelli said the Virginia law, one of 38 state attempts to avoid the mandate, required his legal action in federal court.

The health reform, approved by Congress and President Barack Obama in March, requires every American to buy health insurance in 2014 or pay a penalty of up to 2.5% of annual income.

Critics of the mandate argue that the federal government has never before told Americans to purchase any product or service, while proponents of the mandate argue that without it, some people might only enroll in health plans when they are sick. In Massachusetts, where health reform has been in place since 2006 and where no individual mandate is in place, state officials recently reported that the number of people enrolling in health insurance plans for six months or less quadrupled from 2006 to 2008.