Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Nelson

In 1936 the Standard Oil Company filed its complaint in the District Court of the United States, southern district, central division, praying that the Iowa State Tax Commission be enjoined from applying the Iowa Chain Store Tax Act to its bulk-plant operations in Iowa. Plaintiff herein, with 13 other major oil companies, intervened in the suit,, seeking similar relief. A consent decree was entered by a three-judge federal district court. The decree provided that it was not binding “either upon the intervener, Phillips Petroleum Company, or the defendants with respect to certain bulk plants…