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18. Is this statute constitutional?
A federal statute imposes an excise tax of $100 on each new computer sold in the United States. It also appropriates the entire proceeds of that tax to a special fund, which is required to be used to purchase licenses for computer software that will be made available for use, free of charge, to any resident of the United States.
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A is incorrect. Article I, Section 9, Clause 4 of the Constitution allows Congress to adopt direct taxes, provided they are in proportion to the national census. Courts defer to reasonable congressional taxing measures, such as the statute at issue, as well as to expenditures that reasonably further the general welfare.
B is incorrect. It is true that the Fifth Amendment prohibits the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. But the statute effects no such taking. A tax on the sale of a computer takes no property from those who hold patents or copyrights on computer software. Likewise, the software to be distributed freely under the statute will be purchased, rather than taken, by the government. Courts defer to reasonable congressional taxing measures, such as the statute at issue, as well as to expenditures that reasonably further the general welfare.
D is incorrect. Although Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution gives Congress power to provide patent rights to inventors, this Clause does not itself authorize federal taxes and appropriations. Courts defer to reasonable congressional taxing measures, such as the statute at issue, as well as to expenditures that reasonably further the general welfare.