July 12, 2006

Tennessee To Continue Collecting Unconstitutional Tax

Although a judge has ruled that the Tennessee law requiring drug dealers to pay state taxes on their cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs is unconstitutional, the state says it will continue to collect the tax because the ruling applies only to one individual alleged drug dealer, and not statewide. From the Tennessean's report:

"They're just turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the opinion," said James A. H. Bell, one of the Knoxville lawyers who brought the case on behalf of Robbins. He described the state's attitude as "cavalier."

The chancellor's decision, handed down Monday, applies only to Robbins and, in any case, the state plans to appeal, said Sharon Curtis-Flair, spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office. "It's just this one client," she said.

A year ago, the non-partisan Tennessee Center for Policy Research published a report exposing the constitutional problem with the state's "Unauthorized Substances Tax." You can read the 10-page report, The Unauthorized Substances Tax: How Tennessee's Drug Policy Cracks the Constitution and Blows Tax Dollars, by public policy analysts Ryan Burleson and Drew Johnson, by clicking here.

Update: Say Uncle thinks I'm being inconsistent because, more than a year ago, I said that I would "heartily support" raising the excise tax on illegal drugs to 100 percent. But there is no inconsistency - none at all...

I like the goal of taxing illegal drugs - combating drug dealers. I referred to it today as "unconstitutional" because a judge ruled it was.

In of May 2005, I wrote this:

The constitutional problems with the tax vis a vis the Fifth Amendment, spelled out in the TCPR report, are more troubling to me than the fact that, so far, the tax is a money-loser for the state. The constitutional problems include a violation of the Fifth Amendment protections against "double jeopardy," and self-incrimination, and the TCPR report notes that courts have struck down similar taxes in Arizona, Texas and Wisconsin based on those issues.

When the tax was implemented I liked the idea - and constitutional issues hadn't been raised. Later, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research raised the constitutional issues, and I reported that on my blog. Now, a judge has ruled the tax to be unconstitutional and I reported that on my blog, as well as the state's intention to continue collecting the unconstitutional tax. I'm opposed to the state collecting any unconstitutional tax.

No inconsistency.

In fact, it's supremely consistent with my overall position on taxes over the years. I had many reasons for being opposed to the state income tax but the chief reason was it was unconstitutional. In fact, though I am often labeled as the anti-income tax blogger, I have written several times about how I would structure our state's tax code with an income tax if one was constitutionally created (i.e., through a constitutional amendment referendum).

Before I am a conservative or a small-L libertarian I am a constitutionalist. I would love to see a 100 percent tax on illegal drugs - if it is constitutional. The latest judicial ruling is, Tennessee's tax on illegal drugs is not constitutional. I am opposed to the state collecting unconstitutional taxes, no matter how much I approve of the goal of the tax policy.