Lewis v. United States, 348 U.S. 419 (1955)

Supreme Court decision of 14 March 1955 holding that United States v. Kahriger controlled a challenge to the federal wagering occupational tax brought in the District of Columbia.

Date: 1955-03-14
Kind: court-opinion
Source: CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Docket: No. 203
Rights: Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, a federal work in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. CourtListener (Free Law Project) hosts the text; it is not the source institution.

Argued February 3, 1955; decided March 14, 1955. An information in the Municipal Court for the District of Columbia charged that the petitioner “engaged in the business of accepting wagers without paying the occupational tax” imposed by 26 U.S.C. § 3290. Justice Minton wrote that the taxing-power and self-incrimination questions had been “categorically answered in the negative” in Kahriger, that the Fourth Amendment question “is not substantially different from the second and is also controlled by Kahriger,” and that the only material difference was that the violation was charged in the District of Columbia rather than in a State. “Affirmed.”

Justice Black, joined by Justice Douglas, dissented, and Justice Frankfurter dissented separately. Walter E. Gallagher, who argued for the petitioner, had represented Continental Press witnesses before the Kefauver Committee in 1950.

itemUnited States v. Kahriger, 345 U.S. 22 (1953)Supreme Court decision of 9 March 1953 upholding the occupational tax and registration requirement that the Revenue Act of 1951 placed on persons in the business of accepting wagers.itemWagering taxes: Revenue Act of 1951, Part VII, sec. 471 (Public Law 183), 65 Stat. 529Part VII of the Revenue Act of 1951 added a chapter of wagering taxes: a 10 percent excise tax on wagers, including "the numbers game, policy, and similar types of wagering", and a $50 special tax with registration for those in the business. The Supreme Court limited its criminal enforcement in 1968.itemMarchetti v. United States, 390 U.S. 39 (1968)Supreme Court decision of January 29, 1968 holding that a proper claim of the Fifth Amendment privilege is a complete defense to prosecution for failing to register and pay the federal occupational tax on wagering.