American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Scheiner

American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Scheiner, 483 U.S. 266 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a state tax on using motor vehicles on the highway is unconstitutional when the amount of the tax is not calculated to be proportional to highway use and when the tax treats in-state and out-of-state road users differently.

American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Scheiner
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided June 23, 1987
Full case name	American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Scheiner
Citations	483 U.S. 266 (more)
Holding
A state tax on using motor vehicles on the highway is unconstitutional when the amount of the tax is not calculated to be proportional to highway use and when the tax treats in-state and out-of-state road users differently.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. · John P. Stevens Sandra Day O'Connor · Antonin Scalia
Case opinions
Majority	Stevens
Dissent	O'Connor, joined by Rehnquist, Powell
Dissent	Scalia, joined by Rehnquist
Laws applied
Commerce Clause, Dormant Commerce Clause

Aftermath

The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Arkansas Supreme Court. While the case remained pending, the state of Arkansas began holding the collected taxes in escrow on the order of Circuit Justice Harry Blackmun. The Arkansas Supreme Court then reconsidered the tax in light of Scheiner and ruled it unconstitutional. However, the court declined to order refunds for taxes paid before the August escrow order, saying Scheiner could not be applied retroactively. The court nevertheless determined that the tax money paid into escrow after the August order should be refunded. In American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Smith, the Supreme Court allowed that decision to stand.

External links

• Text of American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Scheiner, 483 U.S. 266 (1987) is available from: Cornell Findlaw Justia

This article incorporates written opinion of a United States federal court. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the text is in the public domain. "[T]he Court is unanimously of opinion that no reporter has or can have any copyright in the written opinions delivered by this Court." Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. (8 Pet.) 591, 668 (1834)