United States v. Scovil et al. (348 U.S. 218)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 10, 1955 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 348 U.S. 218 · 75 S. Ct. 244
- Docket
- No. 35
- Argued
- November 16, 1954
- Decided
- January 10, 1955
- Term
- October Term 1954
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Minton
- Issue area
- Federal Taxation
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Warren, Justice Black, Justice Douglas, Justice Clark, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Burton, Justice Reed, Justice Minton (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Minton delivered the opinion of the Court. This case involves the relative priority of a landlord’s distress for rent under the laws of South Carolina and a lien for unpaid taxes due the United States. The landlord, herein referred to as respondent, on April 7, 1952, filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Greenville County, South Carolina, an affidavit setting forth that Dan Tassey, Inc., was indebted to him for rent and requesting a distress warrant which issued. The master’s report shows only that the landlord for past due rent “proceeded on the 7th day of April, 1952 to distress upon the assets of said corporation for said rent in arrears.” The record does not disclose what was actually done in the distress proceedings. South Carolina Code Annotated, 1952, § 41-151, provides when the affidavit of a landlord is filed the magistrate may issue his distress warrant naming the amount due with costs and deliver the warrant to an officer for service. The officer shall forthwith demand payment (§ 41-153), and if not paid, he shall distrain sufficient property on the rented premises to pay the amount, giving a list of property distrained together with a copy of the distress warrant to the tenant. The distress must be reasonable as to amount of property distrained, on penalty of action for damages (§ § 41-158, 41-159). The tenant has five days in which to put up bond and…
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