The Case of the “Vacillating Jurist”: Pittsburgh's George Shiras, Jr. and the Income Tax Case of 1895

Abstract

This paper examines the mystery behind the case of Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust. Better known as the “Income Tax Case”, the question of the legality of the nation’s first peacetime income tax came before the Supreme Court in March 1895. Initially deadlocked four to four, the Court scheduled a second hearing with its ninth justice, Howell Jackson, now in attendance. In May, the Court ruled five to four against the tax. Insofar as Jackson favored the tax, one of the justices who initially supported the tax obviously changed his vote. This paper examines the mystery behind the “vacillating jurist”.