48 U.S.C. § 872
Section 872 · Habeas corpus; mandamus; suit to restrain assessment or collection of taxes
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 54 court decisions — leading case Hibbs Director Arizona Department of Revenue v. Winn et al. (2004)
Most recently applied in American Trucking Assoc., Inc. v. Alviti (December 2019)
Applied most in the First Circuit Circuit (33 decisions)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The supreme and district courts of Puerto Rico and the respective judges thereof may grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are grantable by the judges of the district courts of the United States, and the district courts may grant writs of mandamus in all proper cases.
No suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax imposed by the laws of Puerto Rico shall be maintained in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
“United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico” substituted in text for “District Court of the United States for Puerto Rico” in view of section 132(a) of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, which states that “There shall be in each judicial district a district court which shall be a court of record known as the United States District Court for the district” and section 119 of Title 28 which states that “Puerto Rico constitutes one judicial district”.
Amendments
1927—Act Mar. 4, 1927, added second paragraph.
Change of Name
“Puerto Rico” substituted in text for “Porto Rico” pursuant to act May 17, 1932, which is classified to section 731a of this title.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Abolishment of writ of mandamus, see rule 81, Title 28, Appendix, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Power of Supreme Court to prescribe rules of procedure and evidence for district courts, see section 2072 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Cross References
Habeas corpus, see section 2241 et seq. of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Suspension of privilege of writ of habeas corpus by Legislative Assembly, see Art. II, §13, of Commonwealth Constitution, set out under section 731d of this title.
Writs, issuance of, see section 1651 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.