II

Calendar No. 386

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1708

To amend title 28 of the United States Code to clarify the remedial

jurisdiction of inferior Federal courts.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 25, 1996

Mr. THURMOND (for himself and Mr. DOLE) introduced the following bill;

which was read the first time

APRIL 29, 1996

Read the second time and placed on the calendar

A BILL

To amend title 28 of the United States Code to clarify

the remedial jurisdiction of inferior Federal courts.

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 Taxation Pro5 hibition Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds and declares that—
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1 (1) a variety of effective and appropriate judi2 cial remedies are available for the full redress of

3 legal and constitutional violations under existing law,

4 and that the imposition or increase of taxes by

5 courts is neither necessary nor appropriate for the

6 full and effective exercise of Federal court jurisdic7 tion;

8 (2) the imposition or increase of taxes by judi9 cial order constitutes an unauthorized and inappro10 priate exercise of the judicial power under the Con11 stitution of the United States and is incompatible

12 with traditional principles of American law and gov13 ernment and the basic American principle that tax14 ation without representation is tyranny;

15 (3) Federal courts exceed the proper boundaries

16 of their limited jurisdiction and authority under the

17 Constitution of the United States, and impermissibly

18 intrude on the legislative function in a democratic

19 system of government, when they issue orders re20 quiring the imposition of new taxes or the increase

21 of existing taxes; and

22 (4) the Congress retains the authority under ar23 ticle III, sections 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the

24 United States to limit and regulate the jurisdiction

25 of the inferior Federal courts which it has seen fit
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1 to establish, and such authority includes the power

2 to limit the remedial authority of inferior Federal

3 courts.

4 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 28.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 85 of title 28, United

6 States Code, is amended by adding between sections 1341

7 and 1342, the following new section:

8 ‘‘§ 1341A. Prohibition of judicial imposition or in9 crease of taxes

10 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no

11 inferior court established by Congress shall have jurisdic12 tion to issue any remedy, order, injunction, writ, judg13 ment, or other judicial decree requiring the Federal Gov14 ernment or any State or local government to impose any

15 new tax or to increase any existing tax or tax rate.

16 ‘‘(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit inferior

17 Federal courts from ordering duly authorized remedies,

18 otherwise within their jurisdiction, which may require ex19 penditures by Federal, State, or local government where

20 such expenditures are necessary to effectuate such rem21 edies.

22 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘tax’ in23 cludes—

24 ‘‘(1) personal income taxes;

25 ‘‘(2) real and personal property taxes;
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1 ‘‘(3) sales and transfer taxes;

2 ‘‘(4) estate and gift taxes;

3 ‘‘(5) excise taxes;

4 ‘‘(6) user taxes;

5 ‘‘(7) corporate and business income taxes; and

6 ‘‘(8) licensing fees or taxes.’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for

8 chapter 85 is amended by inserting between the item relat9 ing to section 1341 and the item relating to section 1342,

10 the following new item:

‘‘1341A. Prohibition of judicial imposition or increase of taxes.’’.

11 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

13 take effect on the date of enactment.

Calendar No. 386

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1708

A BILL

To amend title 28 of the United States Code to

eral courts.clarify the remedial jurisdiction of inferior FedAPRIL 29, 1996

Read the second time and placed on the calendar