Leon Sequeira Quoted in Scrip Magazine
"SCOTUS takes on tax/penalty issue in opening health reform arguments"

Seyfarth Shaw attorney Leon Sequeira was quoted on March 26 in an article in Scrip magazine. The article discussed the first of three days of the U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which dealt with the issue of whether the 1867 enacted Anti-Injunction Act (AIA) bars the court from making a decision until later.

Hearing 90 minutes of oral arguments, the court considered whether or not a lawsuit can be brought before the tax under the individual mandate has been levied on anyone.

Leon told Scrip that with two courts on one side of the AIA question and another on the other side, the Supreme Court determined it needed to confront the issue.

He said he was surprised that that all of the justices seemed to be "hostile" to the idea that the AIA applies to the Affordable Care Act penalty. He pointed out that even though U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued on the first day for the government that the monetary fine taxpayers failing to buy health insurance must pay is a penalty, on the second day, he will go before the court and argue that Congress was exercising its taxing power by including the penalty.