J. Elliott Hibbs, Director, Arizona Department of Revenue v. Kathleen M. Winn et al. (542 U.S. 88)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 14, 2004 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 542 U.S. 88 · 124 S. Ct. 2276
- Decided
- June 14, 2004
- Term
- October Term 2003
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. Arizona law authorizes income-tax credits for payments to organizations that award educational scholarships and tuition grants to children attending private schools. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §43-1089 (West Supp. 2003). Plaintiffs below, respondents here, brought an action in federal court challenging §43-1089, and seeking to enjoin its operation, on Establishment Clause grounds. The question presented is whether the Tax Injunction Act (TIA or Act), 28 U. S. C. § 1341, which prohibits a lower federal court from restraining “the assessment, levy or collection of any tax under State law,” bars the suit. Plaintiffs-respondents do not contest their own tax liability. Nor do they seek to impede Arizona’s receipt of tax revenues. Their suit, we hold, is not the kind § 1341 proscribes. In decisions spanning a near half century, courts in the federal system, including this Court, have entertained challenges to tax credits authorized by state law, without conceiving of §1341 as a jurisdictional barrier. On this first occasion squarely to confront the issue, we confirm the authority federal courts exercised in those cases. It is hardly ancient history that States, once bent on maintaining racial segregation in public schools, and allocating resources disproportionately to benefit white students to the detriment of black students,…
Excerpt of a 42,538-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.