Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch

This case presents the question whether a tax on the possession of illegal drugs assessed after the State has imposed a criminal penalty for the same conduct may violate the constitutional prohibition against successive punishments for the same offense.1

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Montana’s Dangerous Drug Tax Act2 took effect on October 1, 1987. The Act imposes a tax “on the possession and storage of dangerous drugs,”3 Mont. Code Ann. §15-25-111 (1987), and expressly provides that the tax is to be “collected only after any state or federal fines or forfeitures have been satisfied.” §15-25-111(3). The tax is either 10…