Dunbar-Stanley Studios, Inc. v. Alabama

Alabama levies a tax upon photograph galleries and persons engaged in photography. If the business is conducted “at a fixed location,” the tax in the large cities1 is $25 a year for each such location. For each “transient or traveling photographer,” the tax is $5 per week for each county, town, or city in which he plies his trade.2

This case involves state assessments of the transient photographers tax against appellant and its predecessor partnership.3 Appellant sought a declaration from the state courts that the assessment was improper, claiming that the tax was levied upon interstate…