|
|
Billings v. Illinois, 188 U.S. 97 (1903)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Billings v. Illinois, 188 U.S. 97 (1903)
Please note: this case begins in mid-page. It therefore shares a citation with the last page of the previous case. If you are attempting to follow a link to the last page of 188 U.S. 82, click here.
Billings v. Illinois No. 106 Argued December 4, 1902 Decided January 19, 1903 188 U.S. 97
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Syllabus
The claim that section 2 of the act providing for the taxation of life estates, as construed by the highest courts of the Illinois, is in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment in that the classification of life tenants is arbitrary and unreasonable and denies to life tenants the equal protection of laws because it taxes one class of life estates where the remainder is to lineals and expressly exempts life estates where the remainder is to collaterals or to strangers in blood, cannot be sustained.
Inheritance tax laws are based upon the power of a state over testate and intestate dispositions of property, to limit and create estates, and to impose conditions upon their transfer or devolution. This Court has already decided in regard to this law that such power could be exercised by distinguishing between the lineal and collateral relatives of a testator. Whether the amount of the tax depends upon him who immediately receives or upon him who ultimately receives makes no difference with the power of the state. No discrimination being exercised in the creation of the class, equality is observed. Magoun v. Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, 170 U.S. 283, followed.
The case is stated in the opinion of the Court.
Contents:
Chicago:
U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Billings v. Illinois, 188 U.S. 97 (1903) in 188 U.S. 97 188 U.S. 98. Original Sources, accessed August 29, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=TPRTDSV7LCXBV3J.
MLA:
U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Billings v. Illinois, 188 U.S. 97 (1903), in 188 U.S. 97, page 188 U.S. 98. Original Sources. 29 Aug. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=TPRTDSV7LCXBV3J.
Harvard:
U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Billings v. Illinois, 188 U.S. 97 (1903). cited in 1903, 188 U.S. 97, pp.188 U.S. 98. Original Sources, retrieved 29 August 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=TPRTDSV7LCXBV3J.
|