The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952
History
The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952
Constitutional law -- United States; Constitutions -- United States
In the matter of motor vehicle taxation, on the other hand, durable and
consistent results have been achieved. This is because most such
taxation has been readily classifiable as the exaction of a toll for the
use of the State's highways, and the only question was whether the toll
was exorbitant. Moreover, such taxation is apt to be designed not merely
to raise revenue but to promote safety on the highways. In the leading
case, Hendrick _v._ Maryland,[738] decided in 1915, the Court took
cognizance of the fact that "the movement of motor vehicles over the
highways is attended by constant and serious dangers to the public, and
is also abnormally destructive to the ways themselves";[739] and on this
factual basis it has held that registration may be required by a State
for out-of-State vehicles operated therein,[740] or passing through from
one State to another;[741] that a special fee may be exacted for the
privilege of transporting motor vehicles on their own wheels in
caravans,[742] unless excessive;[743] that taxes may also be imposed on
carriers based on capacity[744] or mileage,[745] or as a flat fee;[746]
but that a privilege tax on motor busses operated exclusively in
interstate commerce, cannot be sustained unless it appears affirmatively
in some way, that it is levied only as compensation for use of the
highways in the State or to defray the expense of regulating motor
traffic.[747] Later decisions follow in the same general track,[748] the
most recent one being Capitol Greyhound Lines _v._ Brice,[749] in which
the Court, speaking by Justice Black passed upon a Maryland excise tax
on the fair market value of motor vehicles used in interstate commerce
as a condition to the issuance of certificates of title as prerequisites
to the registration and operation of motor vehicles in the State.
Because the tax was applied to vehicles used in both interstate and
intrastate commerce and the proceeds were used for road purposes and
because the Court considered the tax, though actually separate, to be an
adjunct of Maryland's mileage tax, it was able to find that the total
charge varied substantially with the mileage travelled, and on that
ground sustained it, being constant, it said with "rough approximation
rather than precision," no showing having been made that Maryland's
taxes considered as a whole exceeded "fair compensation for the
privilege of using State roads." Justice Frankfurter, who was joined by
Justice Jackson, dissented, and in so doing contributed as an Appendix
to his opinion a useful analysis of decisions involving State taxation
of motor vehicles engaged in interstate commerce, for highway
purposes.[750]
Public Utilities; Regulatory Charges
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