Department of Revenue of Montana v. Kurth Ranch et al.

Decided June 6, 1994. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-144 · 511 U.S. 767 (1994) · Cited 1,050 times

Holding

The tax violates the constitutional prohibition against successive punishments for the same offense.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Halper · 490 U.S. 435 (1989)
• Helvering v. Mitchell · 303 U.S. 391 (1938)
• United States v. Constantine · 296 U.S. 287 (1935)
• United States v. Ward · 448 U.S. 242 (1980)
• Ex Parte Lange · 85 U.S. 163 (1874)
• United States v. Sanchez · 340 U.S. 42 (1950)
• Marchetti v. United States · 390 U.S. 39 (1968)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• United States Ex Rel. Marcus v. Hess · 317 U.S. 537 (1943)
• James v. United States · 366 U.S. 213 (1961)
• In Re Bradley · 318 U.S. 50 (1943)
• Austin v. United States · 509 U.S. 602 (1993)
• A. Magnano Co. v. Hamilton · 292 U.S. 40 (1934)
• United States v. La Franca · 282 U.S. 568 (1931)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Missouri v. Hunter · 459 U.S. 359 (1983)
• Whalen v. United States · 445 U.S. 684 (1980)
• United States v. DiFrancesco · 449 U.S. 117 (1980)
• Ohio v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 493 (1984)
• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• One Lot Emerald Cut Stones and One Ring v. United States · 409 U.S. 232 (1972)
• Rex Trailer Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 148 (1956)
• Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana · 453 U.S. 609 (1981)
• Sonzinsky v. United States · 300 U.S. 506 (1937)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Benton v. Maryland · 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
• Brown v. Ohio · 432 U.S. 161 (1977)
• Albernaz v. United States · 450 U.S. 333 (1981)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Ursery · 518 U.S. 267 (1996)
• Hudson v. United States · 522 U.S. 93 (1997)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• Witte v. United States · 515 U.S. 389 (1995)
• California v. Texas · 593 U.S. 659 (2021)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1994). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).