United States et al. v. County of Fresno

Decided January 25, 1977. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1262 · 429 U.S. 452 (1977) · Cited 187 times

Holding

The tax is not barred by the Supremacy Clause as a state tax on the Federal Government or federal property.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Graves v. New York Ex Rel. O'Keefe · 306 U.S. 466 (1939)
• United States v. City of Detroit · 355 U.S. 466 (1958)
• United States v. County of Allegheny · 322 U.S. 174 (1944)
• City of Detroit v. Murray Corp. of America · 355 U.S. 489 (1958)
• United States v. Township of Muskegon · 355 U.S. 484 (1958)
• James v. Dravo Contracting Co. · 302 U.S. 134 (1937)
• Dobbins v. Commissioners of Erie County · 41 U.S. 435 (1842)
• Panhandle Oil Co. v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Knox · 277 U.S. 218 (1928)
• Kern-Limerick, Inc. v. Scurlock · 347 U.S. 110 (1954)
• Alabama v. King & Boozer · 314 U.S. 1 (1941)
• Federal Land Bank of St. Paul v. Bismarck Lumber Co. · 314 U.S. 95 (1941)
• United States v. Rickert · 188 U.S. 432 (1903)
• Van Brocklin v. Tennessee · 117 U.S. 151 (1886)
• Gillespie v. Oklahoma · 257 U.S. 501 (1922)
• First Agricultural National Bank of Berkshire County v. State Tax Commission · 392 U.S. 339 (1968)
• United States v. Tax Comm'n of Miss. · 421 U.S. 599 (1975)

Cited by

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

• North Dakota v. United States · 495 U.S. 423 (1990)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• Montana v. United States · 440 U.S. 147 (1979)
• Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue · 460 U.S. 575 (1983)
• United States v. New Mexico · 455 U.S. 720 (1982)
• Memphis Bank & Trust Co. v. Garner · 459 U.S. 392 (1983)
• South Carolina v. Regan · 465 U.S. 367 (1984)
• South Carolina v. Baker · 485 U.S. 505 (1988)
• Harper v. Virginia Department of Taxation · 509 U.S. 86 (1993)
• Jefferson County v. Acker · 527 U.S. 423 (1999)
• West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy · 512 U.S. 186 (1994)
• Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation · 515 U.S. 450 (1995)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 435 U.S. 444 (1978)
• Ramah Navajo School Bd., Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of NM · 458 U.S. 832 (1982)
• United States v. Washington · 596 U.S. 832 (2022)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). 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).