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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3100

To limit the authority of Federal courts to fashion remedies that require

local jurisdictions to assess, levy, or collect taxes, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 14, 1996

Mr. MANZULLO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To limit the authority of Federal courts to fashion remedies

that require local jurisdictions to assess, levy, or collect

taxes, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Mandate and

5 Remedy Clarification Act of 1996.’’

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) a variety of effective and appropriate judi9 cial remedies are available for the full redress of

10 legal and constitutional violations under existing law,
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1 and the imposition, increase, levying or assessment

2 of taxes by courts is neither necessary nor appro3 priate for the full and effective exercise of remedies

4 imposed pursuant to Federal courts jurisdiction;

5 (2) the imposition, increase, levying, or assess6 ment of taxes by judicial order is not an appropriate

7 exercise of the judicial power under the Constitution,

8 and is incompatible with the traditional principles of

9 American law and government and the basic Amer10 ican principle that taxation without representation is

11 tyranny because Federal courts are unelected offi12 cials, not answerable to the popular will;

13 (3) Federal courts exceed the proper boundaries

14 of their limited jurisdiction and authority under the

15 Constitution, and impermissibly intrude on the legis16 lative function in a democratic system of govern17 ment, when they issue orders requiring or resulting

18 in the imposition, increase, levying, or assessment of

19 new taxes or existing taxes;

20 (4) no court should enter an order, not should

21 there be any settlement, remedying a legal or con22 stitutional violation, by imposing, creating, increas23 ing, levying, or assessing any tax for the enforce24 ment thereof, nor can the court enter an order, nor

25 can there be any settlement, which has the effect of
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1 imposing, creating, increasing, levying, or assessing

2 any tax;

3 (5) settlement agreements or orders entered by

4 Federal courts should be fashioned within the frame5 work of current budgetary restraints of any State or

6 political subdivisions thereof;

7 (6) the Congress retains the authority under ar8 ticle III, sections 1 and 2, or the Constitution to

9 limit and regulate the jurisdiction of the inferior

10 Federal courts, and such authority includes the

11 power to limit the remedial authority of such courts;

12 (7) nothing contained herein shall otherwise

13 validate, approve, legalize, or encourage the imposi14 tion of a tax, levy, or assessment by a Federal judge;

15 (8) notwithstanding these findings, the Con16 gress acknowledges that in certain circumstances,

17 the Federal courts have abrogated constitutional au18 thority with regard to judicially mandating a tax,

19 levy or assessment to ascertain a remedy, but that

20 should the Federal courts continue on in such a

21 manner, the following rules shall be met prior to en22 tering any order or settlement remedying a Federal

23 or State common law, statutory or constitutional vio24 lation by imposing, creating, increasing, levying or

25 assessing any tax for the enforcement thereof; nor
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1 shall there by any settlement or order which has the

2 effect of imposing, creating, increasing, levying or

3 assessing any tax:

4 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL COURT REMEDIES.

5 Section 1343 of title 28, United States Code, is

6 amended—

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub8 section (c); and

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow10 ing new subsection:

11 ‘‘(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other law, there shall be

12 no settlement nor shall the district courts order any State,

13 or political subdivision of a State, to impose, increase,

14 levy, or assess any tax; nor shall there be any settlement

15 or order which has the effect of imposing, creating, in16 creasing, levying or assessing any tax, for the purpose of

17 enforcing any Federal or State common law, statutory, or

18 constitutional right or law unless the court finds by clear

19 and convincing evidence, that—

20 ‘‘(A) there are no other means available to rem21 edy the deprivation of rights or laws, and the pro22 posed imposition, increase, levying, or assessment is

23 narrowly tailored to remedy the specific deprivation

24 at issue;
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1 ‘‘(B) the tax will not contribute to or exacer2 bate the deprivation intended to be remedied;

3 ‘‘(C) the proposed tax will not result in a loss

4 of revenue for the political subdivision in which it is

5 assessed, levied, or collected;

6 ‘‘(D) the proposed tax will not result in the loss

7 or depreciation of property values of the taxpayer so

8 affected;

9 ‘‘(E) the proposed tax will not conflict with the

10 applicable laws with respect to the maximum rate of

11 taxation as determined by the appropriate political

12 subdivisions, and will not exceed the lower of ei13 ther—

14 ‘‘(i) the proposed taxation rate; or

15 ‘‘(ii) the total of aggregate taxes that may

16 be imposed—including taxes of other State and

17 local units of governmental bodies and for the

18 purposes of implementing such order may not

19 exceed the Cost of Living as measured by Sec20 tion 215(i) of the Social Security Act, plus five

21 percent per annum; and,

22 ‘‘(F) plans submitted by State and local au23 thorities will not effectively redress the deprivations

24 at issue.
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1 ‘‘(2) A finding under paragraph (1) shall be subject

2 to immediate interlocutory de novo review and shall be re3 viewed at least annually.

4 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any law or rule of procedure,

5 any aggrieved person, corporation, or unincorporated asso6 ciation residing or present in the political subdivision in

7 which a tax is imposed under this subsection shall have

8 the right to intervene in any proceeding concerning the

9 tax. Such interveners shall have the right to present evi10 dence and appear before the court to present oral and

11 written testimony, and to appeal any finding required to

12 be made by this action, or any other action taken to im13 pose, increase, or levy, or assess taxes to remedy depriva14 tions of Federal or State rights.

15 ‘‘(4) These findings by a district court as aforesaid

16 shall apply to those situations wherein parties enter into

17 an agreement with or without court approval and notwith18 standing the fact that litigation has not commenced.

19 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any law or

20 rule of procedure, any imposition, increase, levy, or assess21 ment of a tax shall—

22 ‘‘(1) automatically terminate or expire after 1

23 year, from the date of the imposition or from the

24 date of the enactment of this statute upon which the
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1 court shall make the findings required by subsection

2 (b); and

3 ‘‘(2) terminate at any time if the court deter4 mines that the deprivation rights has been cured to

5 the extent practicable.

6 ‘‘(d) STATE PRE-EMPTION.—Notwithstanding any

7 law or rule of procedure, this statute does not pre-empt

8 State or political subdivision from imposing such and fur9 ther restrictions on the use of State and local taxes, levies,

10 or assessments for the purposes set forth herein.

11 ‘‘(e) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL RIGHTS.—

12 Nothing contained herein shall allow a Federal court to

13 use a tax of any kind of a State or political subdivision

14 for the purpose of funding such order, except to the ex15 tent, if any, and to the proportion, if any, that such taxes,

16 levies, or assessments may already be used for the funding

17 of the object of the order as allowed by State or political

18 subdivision law. Furthermore, the Federal court has no

19 jurisdiction to force, mandate, or compel a taxing body

20 of a State or political subdivision to change or modify its

21 tax laws so as to enlarge them to pay for an order by

22 the Federal court.

23 ‘‘(f) FINDINGS.—Finding required to be made by this

24 section shall be completed by the court prior to the begin25 ning of the fiscal year for the political subdivision against
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1 which a tax imposition, increase, levying, or assessment

2 is ordered, and shall be transmitted to such political sub3 division.

4 ‘‘(g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—There is a pre5 sumption that the imposition, increase, levying, or assess6 ment of taxes is not a narrowly tailored means of remedy7 ing deprivations of Federal or State rights.’’

8 In the event the Supreme Court finds that the use

9 of a judicial tax, levy, or assessment by a Federal judge

10 is illegal or unconstitutional, nothing contained herein

11 shall be construed to otherwise make legal, validate, or ap12 prove of a judicial tax, levy, or assessment.

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