New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Department v. Whitener

I respectfully dissent. Although much of the majority opinion finds support in the Supreme Court’s language in United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989), this ease appears to be distinguishable from Halper in two important respects. First, the full amount of the tax could rationally be justified on grounds other than punishment of Whitener. Second, because the criminal prosecution and the tax collection were pursued concurrently, the tax collection is probably not a subsequent prosecution for the purposes of double-jeopardy doctrine.

The novel questions…