20 states challenge ACA as unconstitutional News
20 states challenge ACA as unconstitutional

A coalition of 20 states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton [official profile], filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Monday alleging that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is now unconstitutional after the passing of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 [statutes, PDF] removed the tax penalty present in the ACA.

The complaint stems from the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in NFIB v. Sebelius [JURIST report], which found that the individual mandate requirement of the ACA was unconstitutional under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause as it exceeded Congressional authority to compel individuals to purchase health insurance. Chief Justice John Roberts, however, justified the mandate under the Constitution’s Tax and Spending Clause as Congress does have the authority to require citizens to pay taxes. Therefore, he determined the individual mandate to be a tax within their Article I authority as it generates revenue required to “to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general Welfare of the United States.”

Relying on the four dissenting opinions in Sebelius, the complaint maintains that since the passing of the new tax plan, all that remains is the individual mandate without any accompanying exercise of Congress’ taxing power because starting in 2019, the tax penalty is eliminated by reducing the tax to $0. Without generating revenue, the claim states, “the ACA is an irrational regulatory regime governing an essential market.” It follows that “the country is left with an individual mandate to buy health insurance that lacks any constitutional basis.”

Paxton stated [press release]:

Texans have known all along that Obamacare is unlawful and a divided Supreme Court’s approval rested solely on the flimsy support of Congress’ authority to tax. Congress has now kicked that flimsy support from beneath the law. The U.S. Supreme Court already admitted that an individual mandate without a tax penalty is unconstitutional. With no remaining legitimate basis for the law, it is time that Americans are finally free from the stranglehold of Obamacare, once and for all.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.