Neil Gorsuch in Vox Media

On Health Care: Individual mandate is unconstitutional even with $0 tax

The Court's decision in CA v. TX concludes that the plaintiffs trying to undo ObamaCare had no business being in court. The case was brought by Texas officials who object to ObamaCare, centered on the law's individual mandate [which] required most Americans to either obtain health insurance or pay higher taxes. In 2017, Congress amended ObamaCare to zero out this tax. The plaintiffs claimed that this zeroed-out tax is unconstitutional and also claimed that the entire law must be declared invalid if the zero dollar tax is stuck down.

In a 7-2 ruling, the Court ruled that no one is allowed to bring suit to challenge a provision of law that does nothing: "The IRS can no longer seek a penalty; there is no possible action that is causally connected to the plaintiffs' injury."

SCOTUS outcome:Opinion authored by Breyer; joined by Roberts; Thomas; Sotomayor; Kagan; Kavanaugh; and Barrett. Alito and Gorsuch dissented, [declaring the] individual mandate "clearly unconstitutional"

Source: Vox.com on 2021 SCOTUS ruling: "California v. Texas" Jun 17, 2021

The above quotations are from Vox Media (news website). Click here for other excerpts from Vox Media (news website). Click here for other excerpts by Neil Gorsuch. Click here for a profile of Neil Gorsuch.
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org! Click for details -- or send donations to: 1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140 E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org (We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Dec 02, 2023