Thirty years ago, a young William M. Acker Jr. successfully argued a racial bias case at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of black railroad workers. Now a senior federal judge in Alabama, he returned to the high court recently, not as an advocate but as an alleged tax scofflaw. Victory may be more elusive the second time around.
For now at least, Judge Acker, who sits on the district court in Birmingham, and his benchmate, Judge U.W. Clemon, are on the side of legal right: Two lower federal courts have found the Jefferson County occupational tax-which both judges have balked at paying for nearly a decade-to be unconstitutional. Whether the U.S. Supreme Court will agree is harder to say, particularly after oral arguments March 29 that gave no clear indication of where the justices were heading.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]