Gray v. Morgan
| Decision Date | 11 March 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. C-65-69.,C-65-69. |
| Citation | 251 F. Supp. 316 |
| Parties | Casey GRAY, Alan Cowie, and Paul Woodman, Individually, Jointly, and on Behalf of all Other Non-Residents of the State of Wisconsin who are Residents of Illinois and Michigan and who are Allegedly Subject to the Wisconsin Income Tax, Plaintiffs, v. James R. MORGAN, Commissioner of Taxation for the State of Wisconsin, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin |
Adeline J. Geo-Karis, Zion, Ill., for plaintiffs.
William G. Rice, Madison, Wis., Anderson, Bylsma & Eisenberg, Madison, Wis., Harold Persons, Asst. Atty. Gen., Stanley C. Fruits, Attorney for Wis. Dept. of Taxation, Madison, Wis., of counsel, for defendant.
The complaint herein alleges that the plaintiffs are residents and citizens of the states of Illinois or of Michigan; that they are employed in Wisconsin; impliedly, that they are being subjected to the Wisconsin income tax on wages or salaries received from Wisconsin employment; and that the application of the Wisconsin income tax statutes to the plaintiffs and to others similarly situated offends the equal protection and due process guarantees of the Constitution of the United States. Jurisdiction is invoked under the provisions of 28 U.S.C., Sec. 1343, the civil rights section. (There is no allegation of the jurisdictional amount required under 28 U.S.C., Sec. 1331 (diversity) or Sec. 1332 (federal question).) The convening of a three-judge court under 28 U.S.C. Secs. 2281, 2282, and 2284 is requested in the complaint (although no further reference to this procedure has been made in subsequent briefs or argument).
The relief sought is: (a) that the court determine the rights and obligations of the plaintiffs with respect to the deduction of interest on mortgages on their homes and with respect to deduction of losses on their homes; (b) that the court enjoin enforcement of the Wisconsin income tax statutes against the plaintiffs; (c) that the court declare unconstitutional the Wisconsin income tax statutes as applied to non-residents; and (d) that the court order refunded taxes heretofore illegally collected from plaintiffs. As to point (a), there is no need for court determination with respect to deduction of interest on mortgages and losses on sale of real estate; the Wisconsin statutes are explicit. Only the remaining three categories of relief will be considered hereinafter.
Defendant, the Commissioner of Taxation for Wisconsin, has moved to dismiss the complaint on two grounds: (1) that this action may not be maintained in the federal court because plaintiffs have a plain, speedy and efficient remedy in the Wisconsin courts; and (2) that the civil rights section is inapplicable to the fiscal claims asserted here.
The motion has been briefed and argued. The court is advised in the premises.
28 U.S.C., Sec. 1341, provides: "The district courts shall not enjoin, suspend or restrain the assessment, levy or collection of any tax under State law where a plain, speedy and efficient remedy may be had in the courts of such State." The complaint herein alleges that the plaintiffs have no plain, speedy and efficient remedy in the Wisconsin courts. This contention is without substance. The remedies available in Wisconsin courts in income tax matters were considered in detail by this court in Zenith Dredge Company v. Corning, D.C., 231 F.Supp. 584, 588-589 (1964), and these remedies were held to be adequate. It is true that in Zenith, the claim was not that the Wisconsin income tax statutes violated the federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process, but rather that Congress had pre-empted the particular area of taxation. However, this court commented (at 589): "State courts share equally with federal courts the responsibility of safeguarding and enforcing federal constitutional rights, which includes federal statutes." The court further observed that if in pursuing their remedies in the Wisconsin courts, the plaintiffs' federal rights were "not given full cognizance", they could seek review in the Supreme Court of the United States. Because the remedy available to plaintiffs in Wisconsin courts is "plain, speedy and efficient", this court is prevented...
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