Oursler v. Tawes’s Empirical Analysis
1940
Citation profile
10 district · 71 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 85 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently July 2023 · most notably Brady v. State of Maryland (1963), Salisbury Beauty Schools v. State Board of Cosmetologists (1973)
10 district · 71 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Carmichael v. Southern Coal & Coke Co. · Welch v. Henry · Graves v. People of State of New York O'Keefe · Colgate v. Harvey · Jefferson Branch Bank v. Skelly
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 85 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““* * *, the power of taxation is inherent in a sovereign State, because the right to tax underlies its own constitution, and is not granted by it. Stated differently, the right may be regulated and limited by constitutional mandates, but it exists without express authority in the fundamental law as a necessary attribute of sovereignty. “Constitutional provisions relating to the power of taxation do not operate as grants of the power; but do constitute limitations upon a power in the government thus set up, which would be otherwise without limit.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““That the levying of taxes by the poll is grievous and oppressive and ought to be prohibited ; that paupers ought not to be assessed for the support of the government; that the General Assembly shall, by uniform rules, provide for the separate assessment, classification and sub-classification of land, improvements on land and personal property, as it may deem proper; and all taxes thereafter provided to be levied by the State for the support of the general State Government, and by the Counties and by the City of Baltimore for their respective purposes, shall be uniform within each class or sub-class of land, improvements on land and personal property which the respective taxing powers may have directed to be subjected to the tax levy; yet fines, duties or taxes may properly and justly be imposed, or laid with a political view for the good government and benefit of the community.” 2”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“In some cases, it is submitted that sources of income accruing from property of one classification are subjected to a greater tax burden than are sources of income derived from property pertaining to another and separate classification. And it is argued that for that reason the effect of the act is to impose an arbitrary and discriminatory tax upon some taxpayers as compared with the tax burden which it places upon others. This situation, however, arises not as between taxpayers whose sources of income or situations are similar in that they accrue from property of like classification under the act; but arises in cases where the sources of income accrue from property of separate and distinct classifications under the act.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.