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jewunit
Brutal!

Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 34,264
Loc: Ohio
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State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy
#7789393 - 12/22/07 03:10 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Approximately 22 states have enacted laws that impose taxes on the possession of marijuana. The statutes imposing these taxes are usually included in the state's revenue code, but failure to pay the taxes can result in criminal penalties. The typical tax is $3.50 for each gram of marijuana possessed. Montana and New Mexico are slightly different. Montana, for example, taxes marijuana at 10 percent of its market value or $100 per ounce, whichever is greater. Anyone who possess marijuana is supposed to pay the tax, though for obvious reasons no one does.
In June 1994, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Montana tax, ruling that the states cannot exact a tax from a person who has previously been convicted and punished for possessing the drugs. (Dept. of Revenue of Montana v. Kurt Ranch et al, NO. 93-144, June 6, 1994, 94 DAR 7673.) To exact such a tax after a person has already been criminally punished, held the Court, violates the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Double Jeopardy Clause , besides protecting against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal or conviction, also protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.
Prior to the Kurth Ranch decision, the Supreme Court had never found a tax to be in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause. In the Kurth Ranch case, however, the Court examined the tax imposed on a Richard and Judith Kurth after police raided their Montana farm and seized 1,811 ounces of harvested marijuana. In a criminal proceeding, the Kurths were found guilty and sentenced to prison. Montana then asses a tax of $181,000 ($100 per ounce of marijuana) against the Kurths. The Kurths argued that the tax was actually a second punishment that violated the Fifth Amendment's guaranteed against a Double Jeopardy.
In a close 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court agreed with the Kurths. The Court found that Montana's tax had punitive characteristics because the tax was extremely high and had an obvious deterrent purpose. As the Court explained: "Taken as a whole, this drug tax is a concoction of anomalies too far-removed in crucial respects for the purpose of Double Jeopardy analysis. The Court, however, left Montana (and the other 22 states with similar tax laws) a way out in future cases, explaining: "Montana no doubt could collect its tax on the possession of marijuana, for example, if it had not previously punished the taxpayer for the same offense, or indeed, if it had assessed the tax in the same proceeding that resulted in his conviction."
Interesting.
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Cannabischarlie
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Registered: 11/28/05
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: jewunit]
#7789428 - 12/22/07 03:21 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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"I am here to pay my tax on this here Marijuana"
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we could all use a little more sunshine.
yeah, she's funny and somewhat interesting. not a beauty queen, but not bad lookin. i'd feel quite honored to fuck janine garofalo. -tiny_rabid_birds
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ZeroBoyWD
Zombie



Registered: 11/21/07
Posts: 460
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: Cannabischarlie]
#7789458 - 12/22/07 03:29 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Do they tax basil and other herbs too? Who the hell pays $1000 a zone?!?!
-------------------- I'm done trying to be "right." I want the exchange of ideas to be the currency of my economy. If you have something I can use, great. I'll try it out. If you think my methods are shit, great. Don't use it. We all want yields.
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: Cannabischarlie]
#7789461 - 12/22/07 03:30 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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interesting, so this would seem to bar civil penalties too that are punitive in nature? should read the opinion, but I'm lazy
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OneMoreRobot3021



Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 61,024
Loc: the sky
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: jewunit]
#7789464 - 12/22/07 03:31 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Heh, the very end essentially ensures that these people might be the only ones who ever get away with not paying the tax after getting caught.
-------------------- Acid doesn't give you truths; it builds machines that push the envelope of perception. Whatever revelations came to me then have dissolved like skywriting. All I really know is that those few years saddled me with a faith in the redemptive potential of the imagination which, however flat, stale and unprofitable the world seems to me now, I cannot for the life of me shake. -Erik Davis
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#7789474 - 12/22/07 03:34 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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still signifigant, this way if you take a plea bargain, or the judge sentances you after conviction, you know that's it.
You or the judge don't figure a reasonable fee and then have the state come around screwing w/ you again a few years down the line for the same shit
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ZeroBoyWD
Zombie



Registered: 11/21/07
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: johnm214]
#7789510 - 12/22/07 03:45 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Can you imagine sitting in an IRS audit and their asking for your recipts for all the weed you bought that fiscal year
-------------------- I'm done trying to be "right." I want the exchange of ideas to be the currency of my economy. If you have something I can use, great. I'll try it out. If you think my methods are shit, great. Don't use it. We all want yields.
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Cannabischarlie
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Registered: 11/28/05
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: ZeroBoyWD]
#7789527 - 12/22/07 03:49 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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seriously call up the tax department in one of those states and tell them you want to pay the tax on the marijuana you have just grown. I am sure the person on the phone will get a big kick out of it.
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jewunit
Brutal!

Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 34,264
Loc: Ohio
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Re: State Taxes on Marijuana -- Double Jeopardy [Re: OneMoreRobot3021]
#7789566 - 12/22/07 03:57 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
OneLessForeskin said: Heh, the very end essentially ensures that these people might be the only ones who ever get away with not paying the tax after getting caught.
Yeah, and they're lucky that they're the ones to win that appeal. They were facing such a big fucking fine.
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