Taxation, Compensation, and Judicial Independence: Hatter v. United States and United States v. Hatter and the Taxation of Federal Judges

15 Pages Posted: 6 Mar 2009 Last revised: 23 Mar 2009

See all articles by Jonathan L. Entin

Jonathan L. Entin

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Erik M. Jensen

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Date Written: ,

Abstract

Does the constitutional requirement that the "compensation" of federal judges "not be diminished during their Continuance in office" preclude Congress from subjecting sitting judges to the social security taxes from which they had previously been exempt? In Hatter v. United States, the Federal Circuit ruled for judges claiming such an exemption, and, after the Supreme Court granted cert, the authors wrote the first of these two articles, arguing why, for a multitutde of reasons, the Supreme Court should reverse and make it clear that judges may constitutionally be subject to a tax of general application. After the Supreme Court held for the judges in 2001, the authors wrote the second article, criticizing the Courts decision describing why the Court had gotten the result and analysis wrong, but also explaining why the damage down done was minimal because the issue is unlikely to arise again.

Keywords: Hatter v. United States, Constitutional Law, Federal Judiciary, Social Security Taxes

JEL Classification: K19, K34

Suggested Citation

Entin, Jonathan L. and Jensen, Erik M., Taxation, Compensation, and Judicial Independence: Hatter v. United States and United States v. Hatter and the Taxation of Federal Judges (,). Tax Notes, Vol. 90, p. 1541, 2001; Tax Notes, Vol. 92, p. 673, 2001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1351903

Jonathan L. Entin (Contact Author)

Case Western Reserve University School of Law ( email )

11075 East Boulevard
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216-368-3321 (Phone)
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Erik M. Jensen

Case Western Reserve University School of Law ( email )

11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
United States
216-368-3613 (Phone)
216-368-2086 (Fax)

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