II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 34

To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify the remedial jurisdiction

of inferior Federal courts.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. THURMOND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 28, 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 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,
2

•S 34 IS

1 and that the imposition or increase of taxes by

2 courts is neither necessary nor appropriate for the

3 full and effective exercise of Federal court jurisdic4 tion;

5 (2) the imposition or increase of taxes by judi6 cial order constitutes an unauthorized and inappro7 priate exercise of the judicial power under the Con8 stitution of the United States and is incompatible

9 with traditional principles of law and government of

10 the United States and the basic principle of the

11 United States that taxation without representation

12 is tyranny;

13 (3) Federal courts exceed the proper boundaries

14 of their limited jurisdiction and authority under the

15 Constitution of the United States, and impermissibly

16 intrude on the legislative function in a democratic

17 system of government, when they issue orders re18 quiring the imposition of new taxes or the increase

19 of existing taxes; and

20 (4) Congress retains the authority under article

21 III, sections 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the

22 United States to limit and regulate the jurisdiction

23 of the inferior Federal courts that Congress has seen

24 fit to establish, and such authority includes the
3

•S 34 IS

1 power to limit the remedial authority of inferior

2 Federal courts.

3 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 28.

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

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1341

6 the following:

7 ‘‘§ 1341A. Prohibition of judicial imposition or in8 crease of taxes

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

10 inferior court established by Congress shall have jurisdic11 tion to issue any remedy, order, injunction, writ, judg12 ment, or other judicial decree requiring the Federal Gov13 ernment or any State or local government to impose any

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

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

16 Federal courts from ordering duly authorized remedies,

17 otherwise within the jurisdiction of those courts, that may

18 require expenditures by a Federal, State, or local govern19 ment in any case in which those expenditures are nec20 essary to effectuate those remedies.

21 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘tax’

22 includes—

23 ‘‘(1) personal income taxes;

24 ‘‘(2) real and personal property taxes;

25 ‘‘(3) sales and transfer taxes;
4

•S 34 IS

1 ‘‘(4) estate and gift taxes;

2 ‘‘(5) excise taxes;

3 ‘‘(6) user taxes;

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

5 ‘‘(8) licensing fees or taxes.’’.

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

7 chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is amended

8 by inserting after the item relating to section 1341 the

9 following:

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

10 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

11 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

12 apply to cases pending or commenced in a Federal court

13 on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

Æ