Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

For over a hundred years, judges have relied on the maxim that hard cases make bad law.' Justice Blackmun suggested that there is "an equally valid proposition that easy cases make bad law. Sometimes, the intuitively sensed obviousness of a case induces a rush to judgment, in which a convenient rationale is too readily embraced .... The United States Supreme Court's decision in Kraft General Foods, Inc. v. Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance3 exemplifies this proposition.4 The Court struck down a provision of the Iowa corporate tax code which seemed to be discriminatory on its face, but in fact was not.

This Note argues that the Court erred in its analysis, but perhaps even more significantly, the Court erred in its understanding of the issue. Part II explains the Iowa tax provision in question and the related Federal tax provisions effectively adopted by the Iowa Code. It continues by describing the lower court disposition of the case. Part III describes the majority and dissenting opinions in Kraft. Part IV of the Note argues that the Court's analysis of the legal issues involved was flawed and that, more fundamentally, the Court failed to comprehend the true nature of the tax scheme involved. Part V concludes by looking at the current status of similar tax provisions in other states in the wake of the Kraft decision.

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