Michael Fitzgerald, Treasurer of Iowa v. Racing Association of Central Iowa et al. (539 U.S. 103)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 9, 2003 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 539 U.S. 103 · 123 S. Ct. 2156
- Docket
- No. 02-695
- Argued
- April 29, 2003
- Decided
- June 9, 2003
- Term
- October Term 2002
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice Stevens, Justice O'Connor, Justice Scalia, Justice Kennedy, Justice Souter, Justice Thomas, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. Iowa taxes adjusted revenues from slot machines on excursion riverboats at a maximum rate of 20 percent. Iowa Code § 99F.11 (2003). Iowa law provides for a maximum tax rate of 36 percent on adjusted revenues from slot machines at racetracks. §§99F.4A(6), 99F.11. The Iowa Supreme Court held that this 20 percent/36 percent difference in tax rates violates the Federal Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, Amdt. 14, §1. 648 N. W. 2d 555 (2002). We disagree and reverse the Iowa Supreme Court’s determination. I — Before 1989, Iowa permitted only one form of gambling— parimutuel betting at racetracks — the proceeds of which it taxed at a six percent rate. Iowa Code § 99D.15 (1984). In 1989, it authorized other forms of gambling, including slot machines and other gambling games on riverboats, though it limited bets to $5 and losses to $200 per excursion. 1989 Iowa Acts ch. 67, §§ 3, 9(2); Iowa Code § 99F.3 (1996). Iowa taxed adjusted revenues from slot machine gambling at graduated rates, with a top rate of 20 percent. 1989 Iowa Acts ch. 67, §11; Iowa Code §99F.ll (1996). In 1994, Iowa enacted a law that, among other things, removed the riverboat gambling $5/$200 bet/loss limits, 1994 Iowa Acts ch. 1021, §19, authorized racetracks to operate slot machines, § 13; Iowa Code §§99F.1(9), 99F.4A (1996), and imposed a graduated tax upon…
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