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Commissioners of Wicomico County v. Bancroft, 203 U.S. 112 (1906)
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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.
Commissioners of Wicomico County v. Bancroft, 203 U.S. 112 (1906)
Commissioners of Wicomico County v. Bancroft No. 129 Argued October 1, 1906 Decided November 5, 1906 203 U.S. 112
CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
In the absence of a contract protected by the impairment clause of the federal Constitution, whether a statutory exemption has been repealed by a subsequent statute is a question of state law in which the decisions of the highest court of the state are binding.
It is only where an irrepealable contract exists that it is the duty of this Court to decide for itself irrespective of the decisions of the state court whether a subsequent act impairs the obligation of such contract.
Even though federal courts might exercise independent judgment, in this case the decisions of the Supreme Court of Maryland are followed to the effect that an act directing a new assessment of property in the state and expressly declaring that property of every railroad in the state be valued and assessed amounted to a repeal of prior exemptions from taxation where there was no irrepealable contract.
A proviso in a state statute taxing all property of railroads that no irrepealable contract of exemption shall be affected construed as expressing the legislative intent to repeal all exemptions not protected by binding contracts beyond legislative control.
135 F. 977 reversed.
The facts are stated in the opinion.
Contents:
Chicago:
U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Commissioners of Wicomico County v. Bancroft, 203 U.S. 112 (1906) in 203 U.S. 112 203 U.S. 114. Original Sources, accessed July 1, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ZKNRYU9ISE7R8XA.
MLA:
U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Commissioners of Wicomico County v. Bancroft, 203 U.S. 112 (1906), in 203 U.S. 112, page 203 U.S. 114. Original Sources. 1 Jul. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ZKNRYU9ISE7R8XA.
Harvard:
U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Commissioners of Wicomico County v. Bancroft, 203 U.S. 112 (1906). cited in 1906, 203 U.S. 112, pp.203 U.S. 114. Original Sources, retrieved 1 July 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ZKNRYU9ISE7R8XA.
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