The Volokh Conspiracy

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Volokh Conspiracy

The Jurisdictional Problem in the ACA case

A new amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit

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Today an amicus brief was filed in the Affordable Care Act case in the Fifth Circuit, on behalf of Kevin Walsh, Michael McConnell, and me. The district court gave a declaratory judgment (purporting to invalidate the ACA). The gist of our argument is that there is no statutory subject-matter jurisdiction under the Skelly Oil rule: a federal court has no statutory subject-matter jurisdiction to grant declaratory relief when neither of the parties could seek non-declaratory relief. If you want to read the brief–which is brief indeed–you can find it here. And a hearty thank you to Raffi Melkonian for his assistance with the filing.