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James Dawson, et ux. v. Dale W. Steager, West Virginia State Tax Commissioner

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, No. 16-0441 · judgment May 17, 2017

Decided · February 20, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

In Davis v. Michigan Department of Treasury, 489 U.S. 803, 815-16 (1989), this Court held that a state may not impose a heavier tax burden on federal employees than state employees, unless the discriminatory treatment is "justified by significant differences between the two classes." Such tax discrimination- even against a "subcategory" of federal employeesviolates the doctrine of intergovernmental tax immunity and 4 U.S.C. § 111. See Jefferson Cty., Ala. v. Acker, 527 U.S. 423 (1999). James Dawson worked as a deputy U.S. Marshal before being presidentially appointed as the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia. Mr. Dawson was enrolled exclusively in the Federal Employee Retirement System ("FERS"). He sought a West Virginia tax exemption for all of his FERS retirement income, but that exemption was ultimately denied. Under West Virginia Law, Mr. Dawson is entitled to exempt a portion of his FERS income from his state taxable income. See W. VA. CODE §§ ll-21- 12(c)(5) and 11-21-12(c)(8). In contrast, West Virginia law allows state law enforcement retirees to entirely exempt from their taxable income all benefits received from four West Virginia retirement plans. See id. § 11 -21-12(c)(6). Federal law enforcement retirees like Mr. Dawson are not entitled to full exemptions, although it is undisputed that Mr. Dawson's job duties were not significantly different from those of the exempted state law enforcement officers. After Davis, three state courts of last resort struck down tax laws that discriminate against federal employees, but three state courts of last resort have upheld such laws based on an extremely narrow and strained reading of Davis, while many other state courts of last resort have inconsistently ruled on related laws. The question presented is: Whether this Court's precedent and the doctrine of intergovernmental tax immunity bar states from exempting groups of state retirees from state income tax while discriminating against similarly situated federal retirees based on the source of their retirement income. GRANTED LIMITED TO THE QUESTION PRESENTED BY THE SOLICITOR GENERAL IN HIS BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CURIAE. Whether the doctrine of intergovernmental tax immunity, as codified in 4 U.S.C. 111, prohibits the State of West Virginia from exempting from state taxation the retirement benefits of certain former state law-enforcement officers, without providing the same exemption for the retirement benefits of former employees of the United States Marshals Service.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Lawrence David Rosenberg

For respondent
Lindsay Sara See
Office of the West Virginia Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage · 2 merits
(2 supporting pet./neither)

Argument & decision

Argued December 3, 2018 — Lawrence D. Rosenberg · Lindsay S. See. Audio and transcript

Decided February 20, 2019. Opinion by Gorsuch.

Proceedings

  1. Mar 25 2019
    MANDATE ISSUED.
  2. Mar 25 2019
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  3. Feb 20 2019
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Gorsuch, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
  4. Dec 03 2018
    Argued. For petitioners: Lawrence D. Rosenberg, Washington, D. C.; and Michael R. Huston, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. (for United States, as amicus curiae.) For respondent: Lindsay S. See, West Virginia Solicitor General, Charleston, W. Va.
  5. Nov 15 2018
    Reply of petitioner James Dawson filed. (Distributed)
  6. Nov 06 2018
    Record received from the Supreme Court of West Virginia is complete. (1 Box)
  7. Oct 19 2018
    CIRCULATED
  8. Oct 16 2018
    Brief of respondent Dale Steager, WV State Tax Commissioner filed.
  9. Oct 15 2018
    Record requested from the Supreme Court of West Virginia.
  10. Oct 09 2018
    SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Monday, December 3, 2018
  11. Oct 09 2018
    Motion of the Acting Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument GRANTED. Justice Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of this motion.
  12. Sep 27 2018
    Motion of the Acting Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument filed.
  13. Sep 04 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of United States filed.
  14. Sep 04 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of NARFE filed.
  15. Aug 31 2018
    Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Dale Steager, WV State Tax Commissioner
  16. Aug 29 2018
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, James Dawson
  17. Aug 28 2018
    Brief of petitioner James Dawson filed.
  18. Aug 28 2018
    Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed)
  19. Jul 27 2018
    Motion for an extension of time to file the opening briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' brief on the merits is extended to and including August 28, 2018. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including October 16, 2018.
  20. Jul 24 2018
    Motion for an extension of time to file the opening briefs on the merits filed.
  21. Jul 17 2018
    Letter re Briefing Schedule of James Dawson not accepted for filing. (Corrected letter to be submitted - July 23, 2018)
  22. Jun 25 2018
    Petition GRANTED limited to the question presented by the Solicitor General in his brief for the United States as amicus curiae.
  23. Jun 18 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/21/2018.
  24. May 29 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/14/2018.
  25. May 29 2018
    Supplemental brief of respondent Dale Steager, WV State Tax Commissioner filed. (Distributed)
  26. May 15 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of United States filed.
  27. Jan 08 2018
    The Solicitor General is invited to file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States.
  28. Dec 06 2017
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2018.
  29. Dec 05 2017
    Reply of petitioner James Dawson filed.
  30. Nov 20 2017
    Brief of respondent Dale Steager, WV State Tax Comm'r in opposition filed.
  31. Oct 05 2017
    Order extending time to file response to petition to and including November 20, 2017.
  32. Sep 19 2017
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 19, 2017)
  33. Aug 29 2017
    Application (17A159) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until September 19, 2017. No further extensions will be granted.
  34. Aug 25 2017
    Application (17A159) to extend further the time from September 9, 2017 to September 25, 2017, submitted to The Chief Justice.
  35. Aug 09 2017
    Application (17A159) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until September 9, 2017.
  36. Aug 07 2017
    Application (17A159) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from August 15, 2017 to October 13, 2017, submitted to The Chief Justice.