Southwestern Oil Company v. State of Texas’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

27 federal appellate · 33 district · 132 state decisions

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 329 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is not questioned that the state may classify occupations for purposes of taxation. In its discretion it may tax all, or it may tax one or some, taking care to accord to all in the same class equality of rights. * * * It may, if it chooses, exempt certain classes of property from any taxation at all, such as churches, libraries, and the property of charitable institutions”. ****** “In our judgment, the objection that, within the true meaning of the 14th Amendment, the statute of Texas has the effect to deny to the Oil Company the equal protection of the laws, does not rest upon any solid basis. The statute makes no distinction among such wholesale dealers as handle the particular articles specified in § 9. The state had the right to classify such dealers separately from those who sold, by wholesale, other articles than those mentioned in that section. The statute puts the constituents of each of those separate classes on the same plane of equality. It is not arbitrary legislation, except in the sense that all legislation is arbitrary. * * * What were the special reasons or motives inducing the state to adopt the classification * * * we do not certainly know. Nor is it important that we should certainly know. * * * But we will not speculate as to the motives of the state, and will assume—the statute, neither upon its face nor by its necessary operation, not suggesting a contrary assumption—that the state has in good faith sought, by its legislation, to protect or promote t”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ohio River & W. Ry. Co. v. Dittey · Flagstaff Vending Co. v. City of Flagstaff

2. ““ . , . It is sufficient for the disposition of this case to say that, except as restrained by its own Constitution or by the Constitution of the United States, the state of Texas, by its legislature, has full power to prescribe any system of taxation which, in its judgment, is best or necessary for its people and government; that, so far as the power of the United States is concerned, the state has the right, by any rule it deems proper, to classify persons or businesses for the purposes of taxation, subject to the condition that such classification shall not be in violation of the Constitution of the United States; that the requirement by the state, that all wholesale dealers in specified articles shall pay a tax of a given amount on their occupation, without exacting a similar tax on the occupations of wholesale dealers in other articles, cannot, on the face of the statute or by reason of any facts within the judicial knowledge of the court, be held, within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, to deprive the taxpayer of his property without due process of law, or to deny him the equal protection of the laws; and that the Federal court cannot interfere with the enforcement of the statute simply because it may disapprove its terms, or question the wisdom of its enactment, or because it cannot be sure as to the precise reasons inducing the state to enact it.””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Michael J. Maloof & Co. v. Bureau of Revenue · Signal Oil and Gas Company v. Williams County

3. ““1. Each person owning, controlling, managing, operating or leasing in this State any oil well, or any person who produces in any other manner any oil by taking it from the earth in this State, shall make quarterly on the first days of January, April, July and October of each year, a report to the Comptroller, under oath of such person or if the producer is other than a natural person, under oath of the president, treasurer, superintendent or person in charge of such production, showing the total amount of oil produced by such person from each well, or otherwise, during the quarter next preceding and the average market value thereof during said quarter. Each such .person on said first days of January, April, July, and October shall pay to tlhe Treasurer of this State an occupation tax for the quarter beginning on said date equal to two per cent of the value of the total amount of oil produced in this State by such person during the quarter next preceding such first days of January, April, July and October at the average market value thereof. ⅜ * * “9. For the occupation tax, penalties and interest herein provided for, the State shall have a lien on any leasehold interest, ownership of the oil rights or interest owned by the person owing any tax herein provided for.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Murko Oil & Royalty Co. v. Fain-McGaha Oil Corp.