Supreme Court of the United States
Arkansas v. Farm Credit Services of Central Arkansas
June 2, 1997520 U.S. 821
Summary
Justice Kennedy, writing for a unanimous Court, held that the Tax Injunction Act bars Production Credit Associations from independently seeking federal declaratory and injunctive relief against state taxation when an adequate state-court remedy exists. Their statutory designation as federal instrumentalities does not give them the United States’ exemption from the Act. The associations are privately owned commercial lenders, not governmental regulatory bodies, and the United States had neither joined their suit nor supported federal jurisdiction. The Court reversed the Court of Appeals and concluded that the action must be dismissed, without reaching the associations’ substantive tax-immunity claims. There were no separate opinions.
Holding
- Whether federal instrumentality status permits Production Credit Associations to challenge state taxation in federal court without the United States as a co-plaintiff.. Production Credit Associations may not invoke the United States’ exception to the Tax Injunction Act solely because they are federal instrumentalities. With an adequate state-court remedy available, their independent federal action for declaratory and injunctive relief must be dismissed.
Docket 95-1918
Cited authorities
- 28 U.S.C. § 1341
- 85 Stat. 583
- 12 U.S.C. § 2001
- 48 Stat. 267
- 12 U.S.C. §2077
- 12 U.S.C. §§ 2071
- 12 U.S.C. § 2077
- 28 U.S.C. § 1362
Cited by
- American Trucking Assoc., Inc. v. Alviti
- Faggiolo v. Borough of Ridley Park
- Bey v. Harper
- Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Company v. Fdic as Receiver for Washington Federal Bank for Savings
- Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Company v. Fdic as Receiver for Washington Federal Bank for Savings
- McNeil v. Oklahoma Tax Commission
- United States v. Standard Corporation
- Robert J. Caluda, Aplc v. New Orleans City