Sixth Circuit Finds TIA Does Not Bar SMJ re Specialty Plates

Per A.C.L.U. of Tenn. V. Bredesen, 441 F.3d 370 (6th Cir. Mar. 17, 2006):

First, the district court was not deprived of subject matter jurisdiction in this case by the Tax Injunction Act (TIA), 28 U.S.C. § 1341, as argued by New Life. New Life claims that the extra cost for a “Choose Life” specialty license plate constitutes a tax that may not, under the TIA, be enjoined by a federal district court if a plain, speedy and efficient remedy may be had in Tennessee courts. Even making the somewhat artificial assumption that it is really the payments that are being challenged in this case, the payments are most closely analogous to payments for simple purchases from the government. Ordinary purchase payments are not taxes under the TIA, and neither is the extra payment for a specialty license plate. It follows that the TIA did not deprive the district court of subject matter jurisdiction in this case.