In response to the Virginia decision, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the appeal immediately, rather than going through the Fourth Circuit. On November 14, 2011, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the case in the spring of 2012. The Supreme Court heard arguments on March 26–28, 2012. Its majority opinion agreed that upholding the PPACA under the commerce clause "would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority" and that "the power to regulate commerce presupposes the existence of commercial activity to be regulated." The Court held that Congress did not have authority under the Commerce Clause to require citizens to purchase health insurance but still upheld the law's "individual mandate" provision under Congress's taxing authority.