Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/323/329.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 19:05:15+00:00

Document:
Appeal from the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio. [323 U.S. 329, 330] Mr. Joseph F. Smith, of Cleveland, Ohio, for appellant City of cleveland.
In No. 68 the appellees sought an injunction against the taxing officials of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and those of the City of Cleveland, to restrain them from attempting to assess and collect taxes, pursuant to the laws of Ohio, on lands acquired by condemnation and owned by the appellees in the city and county. A preliminary injunction was issued but, pursuant to stipulation, the court proceeded at once to hear the case on the merits, and entered a final injunction. 1 [323 U.S. 329, 331] The lands involved were acquired by the United States by condemnation under the National Recovery programme for low-cost housing projects. The Federal Public Housing Authority then erected low-cost dwelling units which were leased to Cleveland Metropolitan Housing, a State of Ohio authority. The latter has sublet the units to tenants for residence purposes.
A majority of the court below held the federal statute authorized by the Constitution. 3 Its reasoning was that even though the evils of bad housing are local in their origin, their effect may become so widespread as to create a menace to the national welfare and that Congress is empowered to deal with the subject in that aspect. The dissenting judge was of the view that the project amounted merely to an embarkation by the federal Government in a private business and that the Government could not do this in such a way as to immunize the property employed from normal state taxation to support local police and other services required by the community of which the housing project forms a part.
In No. 388 the United States Housing Authority applied for exemption from local property taxes pursuant to the law of Ohio4, in respect of a housing project in Cincinnati. The real estate had been purchased by the United States and devoted to a low-cost housing project pursuant to the [323 U.S. 329, 332] federal statute. 5 The application was denied. Appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of Ohio. 6 The denial was affirmed on the grounds that no exemption was permitted by the Constitution and statutes of the State and that refusal of the claimed exemption was consistent with the federal Constitution. 7 An appeal to this court was perfected.
Nos. 68 and 69 were heard and decided by a District Court of three judges pursuant to 266 of the Judicial Code. 8 The appellants insist that they do not act as officers of the State in the enforcement or execution of any state statute in collecting the taxes in question, and that 266 therefore confers no jurisdiction on a three-judge court to hear the cause. We overrule this contention.
[ Footnote 1 ] D.C., 52 F.Supp. 906.
[ Footnote 2 ] 42 U.S.C. 1401 et seq., 42 U.S.C.A. 1401 et seq.
[ Footnote 3 ] Art. I, 8, Cl. 1.
[ Footnote 4 ] Ohio General Code, 5616, 5570-1.
[ Footnote 5 ] Supra, note 2.
[ Footnote 7 ] Federal Public Housing Authority v. Guckenberger, 143 Ohio St. 251, 55 N.E.2d 265.
[ Footnote 8 ] 28 U.S.C. 380, 28 U.S.C.A. 380.
[ Footnote 9 ] Ex parte Collins, 277 U.S. 565 , 48 S.Ct. 585; Ex parte Public National Bank, 278 U.S. 101 , 49 S.Ct. 43; Rorick v. Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage Dist., 307 U.S. 208 , 59 S.Ct. 808.
[ Footnote 10 ] See Ohio General Code 5328, 5351.
[ Footnote 11 ] Ex parte Collins, supra; Ex parte Public National Bank, supra.
[ Footnote 12 ] Spielman Motor Sales Co. v. Dodge, 295 U.S. 89 , 55 S.Ct. 678; Rorick v. Board of Commissioners, supra, 307 U.S. at page 212, 59 S.Ct. at page 810.
[ Footnote 13 ] 42 U.S.C. 1401, 42 U.S.C.A. 1401.
[ Footnote 14 ] 42 U.S.C. 1405(e), 42 U.S.C.A. 1405(e).
[ Footnote 15 ] 42 U.S.C. 1413, 42 U.S.C.A. 1413.
[ Footnote 16 ] United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1 , 64-67, 56 S.Ct. 312-320, 102 A.L.R. 914; Chas. C. Steward Machine Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548, 586 , 57 S.Ct. 883, 890, 109 A.L.R. 1293; Helvering v. Davis, 301 U.S. 619, 640 , 57 S.Ct. 904, 908, 109 A.L.R. 1319.
[ Footnote 17 ] See, e.g. Van Brocklin v. State of Tennessee, 117 U.S. 151 , 6 S.Ct. 670; Pittman v. Home Owners' Loan Corporation, 308 U.S. 21 , 60 S.Ct. 15, 124 A.L.R. 1263; Federal Land Bank v. Bismarck Lumber Co., 314 U.S. 95 , 62 S.Ct. 1.

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