a federal tax law that says, in essence, that a taxpayer cannot challenge a tax, at a minimum, until it comes into effect.

If the Supreme Court eventually rules that the individual mandate triggers the AIA, the court will have effectively punted the constitutional debate concerning the individual mandate down the road. It will have found that no challenge to the mandate can be brought until it goes into effect, which is after 2014.

The AIA, enacted in 1867, says “no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person.” It was passed to protect the government’s need to assess and collect taxes as expeditiously as possible with minimum interference from the judiciary.