[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 34 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Judicial Taxation Prohibition Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) a variety of effective and appropriate judicial 
        remedies are available for the full redress of legal and 
        constitutional violations under existing law, and that the 
        imposition or increase of taxes by courts is neither necessary 
        nor appropriate for the full and effective exercise of Federal 
        court jurisdiction;
            (2) the imposition or increase of taxes by judicial order 
        constitutes an unauthorized and inappropriate exercise of the 
        judicial power under the Constitution of the United States and 
        is incompatible with traditional principles of law and 
        government of the United States and the basic principle of the 
        United States that taxation without representation is tyranny;
            (3) Federal courts exceed the proper boundaries of their 
        limited jurisdiction and authority under the Constitution of 
        the United States, and impermissibly intrude on the legislative 
        function in a democratic system of government, when they issue 
        orders requiring the imposition of new taxes or the increase of 
        existing taxes; and
            (4) Congress retains the authority under article III, 
        sections 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the United States to 
        limit and regulate the jurisdiction of the inferior Federal 
        courts that Congress has seen fit to establish, and such 
        authority includes the power to limit the remedial authority of 
        inferior Federal courts.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 28.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 1341 the following:
``Sec. 1341A. Prohibition of judicial imposition or increase of taxes
    ``(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no inferior court 
established by Congress shall have jurisdiction to issue any remedy, 
order, injunction, writ, judgment, or other judicial decree requiring 
the Federal Government or any State or local government to impose any 
new tax or to increase any existing tax or tax rate.
    ``(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit inferior Federal 
courts from ordering duly authorized remedies, otherwise within the 
jurisdiction of those courts, that may require expenditures by a 
Federal, State, or local government in any case in which those 
expenditures are necessary to effectuate those remedies.
    ``(c) For purposes of this section, the term `tax' includes--
            ``(1) personal income taxes;
            ``(2) real and personal property taxes;
            ``(3) sales and transfer taxes;
            ``(4) estate and gift taxes;
            ``(5) excise taxes;
            ``(6) user taxes;
            ``(7) corporate and business income taxes; and
            ``(8) licensing fees or taxes.''.
    (b) Table of Sections.--The table of sections for chapter 85 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 1341 the following:

``1341A. Prohibition of judicial imposition or increase of taxes.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply to cases 
pending or commenced in a Federal court on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>