Bailey v. George

Decision Date15 May 1922
Docket NumberNo. 590,590
Citation42 S.Ct. 419,66 L.Ed. 816,259 U.S. 16
PartiesBAILEY, Collector of Internal Revenue, et al. v. GEORGE et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Mr. Solicitor General Beck, of Washington, D. C., for appellant.

Messrs. W. C. Davis and Campbell B. Fetner, both of Charlotte, N. C., for appellee.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 17-19 intentionally omitted] Mr. Chief Justice TAFT delivered the opinion of the Court.

The decree entered herein by the District Court and appealed from, directly, to this court, under section 238 of the Justicial Code (Comp. St. § 1215), recited that the complainants operated a manufacturing plant for the production of cotton goods in Gaston county, North Carolina; that the defendant was a federal collector of internal revenue; that on the ground that complainants had employed children in their factory within the limits of ages prescribed in section 1200, the act of Congress, known as the Child Labor Tax Law, approved February 24, 1919 (40 Stat. 1057, 1138 [Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, § 6336 7/8 a]), they were under its terms assessed the sum of $2,098.06; that they filed a claim for abatement of the same, which was denied, that the collector was about to make the exaction by distraining complainants' property, levying on it and selling it, that the act of Congress purporting to authorize the assessment was invalid under the Constitution of the United States, and on these grounds permanently enjoined the collector from proceeding to collect the assessment.

An examination of the bill shows no other ground for equitable relief than as stated in the order. The bill does aver 'that these your petitioners have exhausted all legal remedies and it is necessary for them to be given equitable relief in the premises'; but there are no specific facts set forth sustaining this mere legal conclusion. Section 3224, R. S. (Comp. St. § 5947), provides that 'no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court.' The averment that a taxing statute is unconstitutional does not take this case out of the section. There must be some extraordinary and exceptional circumstance not here averred or shown to make the provisions of the section inapplicable. Dodge v. Brady, 240 U. S. 122, 126, 36 Sup. Ct. 277, 60 L. Ed. 560. In spite of their averment, the complainants did not exhaust all their legal remedies. They might have paid the amount assessed under protest and then brought suit...

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103 cases
  • Alexander v. Americans United Inc 8212 1371
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 15 Mayo 1974
    ...claim, as distinct from its probability of success, is of no consequence under the Anti-Injunction Act. E.g., Bailey v. George, 259 U.S. 16, 42 S.Ct. 419, 66 L.Ed. 816 (1922); Dodge v. Osborn, 240 U.S. 118, 36 S.Ct. 275, 60 L.Ed. 557 The other three factors identified by the Court of Appeal......
  • Rieder v. Rogan
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
    • 28 Octubre 1935
    ...of the statute imposing it." And see Dodge v. Brady (1916) 240 U. S. 122, 36 S. Ct. 277, 60 L. Ed. 560; Bailey v. George (1922) 259 U. S. 16, 42 S. Ct. 419, 66 L. Ed. 816; Child Labor Tax Case (1922) 259 U. S. 20, 42 S. Ct. 449, 66 L. Ed. 817, 21 A. L. R. In Miller v. Standard Nut Margarine......
  • Church of Scientology of California v. U.S.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
    • 12 Diciembre 1990
    ...omitted); Cool Fuel, Inc. v. Connett, 685 F.2d 309, 314 (9th Cir.1981) ("Since the Supreme Court decision in Bailey v. George, 259 U.S. 16, 42 S.Ct. 419, 66 L.Ed. 816 (1922), it has been established law that payment of the tax followed by a suit for refund constitutes an adequate remedy at ......
  • John A. Gebelein, Inc. v. Milbourne
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Maryland
    • 1 Octubre 1935
    ...The mere illegality of the tax, whether in whole or in part, and even though on the ground of unconstitutionality (Bailey v. George, 259 U. S. 16, 42 S. Ct. 419, 66 L. Ed. 816) is not of itself such a circumstance as will make the section inapplicable. Probably the basic reason for the rule......
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