Supreme Court of the United States

Nordlinger v. Hahn

June 18, 1992505 U.S. 1

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter, upheld California's acquisition-value property tax system under rational-basis review. The disparities between newer and older owners rationally further neighborhood stability and protect existing owners' reliance interests; the challenged reassessment exemptions also serve legitimate purposes. Nordlinger lacked standing to assert others' right to travel. The Court distinguished, rather than overruled, Allegheny Pittsburgh. Justice Thomas joined only Part II–A and concurred in the judgment, agreeing that Proposition 13 was constitutional but criticizing the Court's distinction of Allegheny Pittsburgh and its implications for equal protection doctrine. Justice Stevens dissented, concluding that the severe tax disparities were arbitrary, that the asserted justifications were inadequate, and that Allegheny Pittsburgh required invalidation. Neither separate opinion had any joiners.

Holding

  • Standing to invoke the constitutional right to travel.. Nordlinger may not assert others' right to travel as a basis for heightened review.
  • Equal protection validity of acquisition-value property tax assessments.. The different treatment of newer and older property owners survives rational-basis review.
  • Equal protection validity of the challenged reassessment exemptions.. The exemptions for qualifying older homeowners exchanging residences and for parent-child transfers have rational bases and do not invalidate the tax system.

Docket 90-1912

Cited authorities

  • 53 S. Cal. L. Rev. 173
  • 58 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 261
  • 38 UCLA L. Rev. 87
  • 38 UCLA L. Rev. 107
  • 79 Yale L.J. 1205
  • 58 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 261
  • 37 Calif. L. Rev. 341

Cited by

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