US v. Texas: What it means that the US Justice Department sues Texas over restrictive abortion law
This afternoon, the Department of Justice sued the State of Texas over SB 8, United States v. Texas. Basically, the DOJ is claiming (correctly) that SB 8 violates US citizens’ constitutional rights and impedes the business of the federal government. Fun fact: the DOJ has the authority to enforce federal constitutional rights.
FROM THE COMPLAINT:
“The United States has the authority and responsibility to ensure that Texas cannot evade its obligations under the Constitution and deprive individuals of their constitutional rights by adopting a statutory scheme designed specifically to evade traditional mechanisms of federal judicial review. The federal government therefore brings this suit directly against the State of Texas to obtain a declaration that S.B. 8 is invalid, to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated.”
“The Government also brings this suit to protect other federal interests that S.B. 8 unconstitutionally impairs. S.B. 8 conflicts with federal law by purporting to prohibit federal agencies from carrying out their responsibilities under federal law related to abortion services. Because S.B. 8 does not contain an exception for cases of rape or incest, its terms purport to prohibit the federal government and its employees and agents from performing, funding, reimbursing, or facilitating abortions in such cases. Moreover, S.B. 8’s unconstitutionally broad terms purport to subject federal employees and nongovernmental partners who carry out those responsibilities to civil liability and penalties.”
The claims alleged include:
SB 8 violates the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution;
SB 8 is preempted by the Fourteenth Amendment;
SB 8 violates intergovernmental immunity.
The lawsuit seeks to enjoin SB 8 (an order precluding the law from being enforced).
This lawsuit is not the first time the DOJ has sued to enforce federal constitutional rights. And even though federal courts are overwhelmingly run by conservative judges and this lawsuit will face an uphill battle in court, it is important that the Biden Administration is taking this proactive position and fighting the patently unconstitutional SB 8 by any means possible.
