103 S. Ct. 1365; 75 L. Ed. 2d 295; 1983 U.S. LEXIS 6
Case history
Prior
314 N.W.2d 201 (Min. 1981)
Holding
Special taxes imposed on ink and paper are unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr.·Byron White Thurgood Marshall·Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr.·William Rehnquist John P. Stevens·Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Majority
O'Connor, joined by Burger, Brennan, Marshall, Stevens, Powell (in full); White (in part; Blackmun (in part)
Concur/dissent
White
Dissent
Rehnquist
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I
Minneapolis Star Tribune Company v. Commissioner, 460 U.S. 575 (1983), was an opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States overturning a use tax on paper and ink in excess of $100,000 consumed in any calendar year. The Minneapolis Star Tribune initially paid the tax and sued for a refund.
On its face, this ruling finds that state tax systems cannot treat the press differently from any other business without significant and substantial justification. The state of Minnesota demonstrated no such justification to impose a special tax on a select few newspaper publishers. Therefore, this tax was in violation of the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of the press.