Jefferson County v. Acker

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

In this case, we decide whether a tax, imposed by a county government for the privilege of engaging in any occupation within that county and measured by the taxpayer’s gross receipts, can be levied against an Article III judge.1 The district court held that, as applied to federal judges, such a tax violates the intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine and the Compensation Clause of Article III. We REVERSE and REMAND.

I. BACKGROUND

As authorized by the Alabama state legislature, plaintiff-appellant, Jefferson County, Alabama, enacted a tax applicable to all workers who were…