United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Lipke v. Lederer, 259 U.S. 557 (1922)

Lipke v. Lederer

No. 596

Argued March 21, 22, 1922

Decided June 5, 1922

259 U.S. 557

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

1. In a suit to restrain revenue officers from seizure of property under color of an act of Congress, a substantial claim that the act, as construed and sought to be applied by them, is unconstitutional will support a direct writ of error from this Court to the district court. P. 259 U. S. 560.

2. The so-called taxes retained in force and imposed by § 35 of the National Prohibition Act upon dealing in liquor prohibited and made criminal by the act are in reality a penalty, and cannot be enforced by distraint of the offender's property without first affording him a due opportunity for a constitutional hearing. P. 259 U. S. 561.

3. Revised Statutes § 3224, forbidding suits to restrain assessment or collection of any tax, and the statutory remedy of payment and action to recover, are inapplicable to such a case, and the person affected is entitled to relief by injunction, for want of an adequate legal remedy. P. 259 U. S. 562.