Historic U.S. Supreme Court arguments this week on the Affordable Care Act
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear ninety minutes of oral argument in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, on the question whether the Anti-Injunction Act bars the Court’s review of the challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate.
The Anti-Injunction Act, 28 USC § 2283 – Stay of State court proceedings.
CORRECTION: The provision at issue is 26 U.S.C. § 7421, Prohibition of Suits to Restrain Assessment or Collection:
(a) Tax
Except as provided in sections 6015 (e), 6212 (a) and (c), 6213 (a), 6225 (b), 6246 (b), 6330 (e)(1), 6331 (i), 6672 (c), 6694 (c), and 7426 (a) and (b)(1), 7429 (b), and 7436, no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Act bars pre-enforcement challenges to tax laws.
In this appeal, the provisions of the Affordable Care Act pertaining to the individual mandate do not go into effect until 2014. Arguably, there is no plaintiff who has standing to demonstrate immediate and irreperable harm to be enjoined. Courts are prohibited from rendering advisory opinions. The issue is not ripe for adjudication. These jurisdictional issues could provide the Court an easy out to punt on the Affordable Care Act until after 2014 when the individual mandate provisions take effect and a plaintiff may have standing to present an issue ripe for adjudication and demonstrate an immediate and irreperable harm to be enjoined.
On Tuesday the Court will hear two hours of oral argument in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, on the constitutionality of the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act. These arguments focus on the Court's precedents pertaining to Commerce Clause jurisprudence.