342 U.S. 299 | SCOTUS | 1952
Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellant was incorporated in 1833 by a Special Act of the Georgia General Assembly that included a provision for exemption from taxation.
This latest phase
Thereafter, appellant filed this action in the District Court to enjoin appellee from assessing or collecting ad valorem taxes contrary to its legislative charter. Appellant also asked that appellee’s threatened acts be adjudged in violation of a prior decree also entered by the court below and affirmed by this Court. Wright v.
The Attorney General of Georgia stated at the bar of this Court that “plain, speedy and efficient” state remedies were available to appellant, particularly by appeal from an assessment by appellee. We ordered the cause continued to enable appellant to assert such remedies. 339 U. S. 901 (1950). After the District Court modified the restraining order which it had entered pending appeal to permit , assessment, appellee held appellant liable for the full ad valorem tax and appellant appealed to the state courts. The Georgia Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction, holding that such remedy was not available to appellant. Georgia Railroad & Banking Co. v. Redwine, 208 Ga. 261, 66 S. E. 2d 234 (1951). Following this decision, appellant moved for termination of the continuance of its appeal in this Court and we ordered reargument.
First. On reargument, the Attorney General of Georgia again maintained that “plain, speedy and efficient” remedies were available to appellant in the state courts. If so, the District Court is without jurisdiction under 28
Second: Passing to the jurisdictional ground upon which the District Court rested its decision, we note that
The District Court characterized appellant’s action as one to enforce an alleged contract with the State of Georgia, and, as such, a suit against the State. But appellant’s complaint is not framed as a suit for specific performance. It seeks to enjoin appellee from collecting taxes in violation of appellant’s rights under the Federal Constitution. This Court has long held that a suit to restrain unconstitutional action threatened by an individual who is a state officer is not a suit against the State.
In re Ayers, 123 U. S. 443 (1887), relied upon below, is not a contrary holding. In that case, complainant had not alleged that officers threatened to tax its property iri violation of its constitutional rights. As a result, the Court held the action barred as one in substance directed at the State merely to obtain specific performance of a contract with the State.
Accordingly, we find that the District Court was not deprived of jurisdiction in this case on either the ground that it is a suit against the State or that “plain, speedy and efficient” remedies are available to appellant in the state courts. Since the District Court did not determine whether appellee was bound by the Wright decree and did not address itself to the merits of appellant’s claim, we do not pass upon these questions but remand the case to the District Court for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
Ga. Laws 1833, pp. 256, 264.
Ga. Const., Art. I, § III, par. III. See Ga. Laws 1945, No. 34, pp. 8, 14.
Ga. Code Ann., 1937, cc. 92-26, 92-27, 92-28, as amended, contains the taxation provisions which appellee is allegedly threatening to invoke against appellant.
“No State, shall . . . pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, ...” U. S. Const., Art. I, § 10, cl. 1.
The cases concerning this exemption that have reached this Court are collected in Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Phillips, 332 U. S. 168, 173 (1947).
Required under 28 U. S. C. (Supp. IV) §§ 2281, 2284. Query v. United States, 316 U. S. 486 (1942).
“The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend .to any- suit in- law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.” U. S. Const., Amend. XI.
“The district courts shall not enjoin, suspend or restrain the assessment, levy or collection of any tax under State law where a plain, speedy and efficient remedy may be had in the courts of such State.”
208 Ga. at 272, 66 S. E. 2d at 241.
Compare Greene v. Louisville & Interurban R. Co., 244 U. S. 499, 520 (1917), with Matthews v. Rodgers, 284 U. S. 521, 529-530 (1932). See also Graves v. Texas Co., 298 U. S. 393, 403 (1936).
An adequate remedy as to only a portion of the taxes in controversy does not deprive the federal court of jurisdiction over the entire controversy. Greene v. Louisville & Interurban R. Co., note 10, supra. See Hillsborough v. Cromwell, 326 U. S. 620, 629 (1946).
It was also suggested that appellant’s federal claim could be raised in defense to a suit brought by appellee to recover taxes, but. this is hardly a remedy that could have been .invoked by appellant,
Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corp., 337 U. S. 682, 687-688 (1949); In re Ayers, 123 U. S. 443 (1887).
Appellant is incorporated in Georgia and a suit by it against the State of Georgia is not expressly barred by the language of the Eleventh Amendment. Nevertheless, a federal court may not entertain the action if it is a suit against the State. Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U. S. 1 (1890).
Gunter v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 200 U. S. 273 (1906); Prout v. Starr, 188 U. S. 537 (1903); Smyth v. Ames, 169 U. S. 466, 518-519 (1898); Tindal v. Wesley, 167 U. S. 204 (1897); Reagan v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., 154 U. S. 362 (1894); Pennoyer v. McConnaughy, 140 U. S. 1 (1891), and numerous cases cited therein.
Alabama, Comm’n v. Southern R. Co., 341 U. S. 341, 344 (1951); Sterling v. Constantin, 287 U. S. 378, 393 (1932), and cases cited therein; Greene v. Louisville & Interurban R. Co., note 10, supra, at 507, and cases cited therein. See Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corp., note 12, supra, at 690-691, 704.
Appellant in this case merely seeks the cessation of appellee’s allegedly unconstitutional conduct and does not request affirmative
That there is no inconsistency between the decision in Ayers and the cases above cited is shown by the careful differentiation of Allen v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., supra, an opinion also written by Mr. Justice Matthews. See also Pennoyer v. McConnaughy, note 14, supra.
The fact that the Georgia Supreme Court has considered that appellee acts with official immunity does not, of course, impart immunity from responsibility to the supreme federal authority.. Ex parte Young, supra, at 167. See also Graves v. Texas Co., note 10, supra, at 403-404.
We dp not find it necessary to consider whether the State of Georgia had submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the District Court in the Wright litigation. Unlike Gunter v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., supra, where additional parties were brought into the second action, appellant has limited its' complaint to a request for relief against appellee, alone.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
It is my view that appellant’s suit is in reality against the State of Georgia to enjoin a breach of contract. It is the same contract that was involved in Wright v. Georgia R. & Banking Co., 216 U. S. 420. In that case the Court held that the Contract Clause of the Constitution barred Georgia from breaching her agreement granting appellant tax immunity by legislative act.
The suit in the Wright case was against a state officer. But the Attorney General appeared and defended the case on the merits. It is clear to me that the Attorney ' General represented and spoke for the interests of Georgia in the lower court and in this Court. The Georgia Constitution and statutes authorized the Governor to allow the Attorney General to defend suits involving the State’s interests. See Ga. Code of 1895, §§ 23, 220; Ga. Const. of 1877, Art. VI, § X, par. II. The decree that was entered adjudicated the rights of Georgia, declaring her bound by the contract, stating that the Acts of the Georgia Legislature involved in the litigation were “a valid and binding contract between the State of Georgia”
I would conclude that Georgia is bound by the decree in the Wright case. Therefore, relief is now available in the form of an ancillary exercise of the District Court’s equity jurisdiction to protect appellant’s rights secured under the prior decree. Gunter v. Atlantic Coast Line, 200 U. S. 273.