View source for Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization

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{{more citations needed|date=December 2010}}
{{Infobox SCOTUS case
| Litigants = Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization
| ArgueDateA = December 7
| ArgueDateB = 8
| ArgueYear = 1915
| DecideDate = December 20
| DecideYear = 1915
| FullName = Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization
| USVol = 239
| USPage = 441
| ParallelCitations = 36 S. Ct. 141; 60 [[L. Ed.]] 372
| Prior = 
| Subsequent = 
| Holding = Due process protections attach only to administrative activities in which a small number of people are concerned, who are exceptionally affected by the act, in each case upon individual grounds.
| Majority = Holmes
| JoinMajority = ''unanimous''
| Concurrence = 
| JoinConcurrence = 
| Concurrence2 = 
| JoinConcurrence2 = 
| Concurrence/Dissent = 
| JoinConcurrence/Dissent = 
| Dissent = 
| JoinDissent = 
| Dissent2 = 
| JoinDissent2 = 
| LawsApplied = 
| italic title = force
}}

'''''Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization''''', 239 U.S. 441 (1915), was a [[United States Supreme Court]] case which held that [[due process]] protections attach only to administrative activities in which a small number of people are concerned, who are exceptionally affected by the act, in each case upon individual grounds. By contrast, rule-making or quasi-legislative activities that affect a large number of people without regard to the facts of individual cases do not implicate due process protections. It is an important case in [[United States administrative law]].

==Facts and procedural posture==
The State Board of Equalization of the state of [[Colorado]] and the [[Colorado Tax Commission]] ordered that the valuation of all taxable property in Denver be increased by forty percent.<ref>{{ussc|name=Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization|volume=239|page=441|pin=443|year=1915}}.</ref> Plaintiff company brought suit alleging that it had been deprived of its due process protections because a tax had been levied against its property without it being afforded an opportunity to be heard, in violation of the 14th Amendment.<ref name=Pin444>239 U.S. at 444.</ref>  The [[Colorado Supreme Court]] ordered that the suit be dismissed.<ref name=Pin444/>

The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the dismissal, holding that no due process rights are implicated when a tax is levied against a large number of people who are all affected equally.<ref>239 U.S. at 446.</ref>

==Issue==
Are all property owners entitled to an opportunity to be heard prior to adoption of an administrative order that increases property taxes?

==Holding and decision==
The Due Process clause of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] provides that the government may not deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property without notice and an opportunity to be heard. Where an agency rule will apply to a vast number of people, the [[Constitution]] does not require that each be given an opportunity to be heard directly for the purpose of arguing in favor of or against its adoption. In cases such as this, it would be impractical to allow all individuals affected to offer a direct voice in support of or in opposition to an order.<ref>"Where a rule of conduct applies to more than a few people, it is impracticable that everyone should have a direct voice in its adoption. . . . Their rights are protected in the only way that they can be in a complex society, by their power, immediate or remote, over those who make the rule."  239 U.S. at 445.</ref> Thus, the Constitution is satisfied by the fact that, as voters, the taxpayers exercise power, remote or direct, over those responsible for the order. Accordingly, the [[Legal judgment|judgment]] of the state supreme court dismissing this suit must be affirmed.

==Analysis==
The Court distinguishes this case from ''[[Londoner v. City and County of Denver]]'', a 1908 case in which the Court held that individual taxpayers had a right to a hearing before an individualized benefits tax was assessed. The apparent conflict between the two cases is explained by [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr|Justice Holmes's]] observation that in ''Londoner'', "a relatively small number of persons was concerned, who were exceptionally affected, in each case upon individual grounds..." In contrast, here the taxpayers in Denver are affected equally, and in large numbers, and it would be an impractical impediment to government to afford all of them individual hearings. Instead, "their rights are protected in the only way that they can be in a complex society, by their power, immediate or remote, over those who make the rule." In other words, there was no violation of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] because the taxpayers of Denver retained the right to organize and vote.

==See also==
*[[List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 239]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Christine B. |last=Harrington |first2=Lief H. |last2=Carter |chapter=Informality and Formality in Administrative Law |title=Administrative Law and Politics: Cases and Comments |publisher=CQ Press |edition=Fifth |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4522-4040-4 |pages=184–203 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6aCnBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 }}

==External links==
*{{wikisource-inline|Bi-Metallic Investment Company v. State Board of Equalization|''Bi-Metallic Investment Company v. State Board of Equalization''}}
*{{caselaw source
 | case=''Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization'', {{ussc|239|441|1915|el=no}}
 | findlaw=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/239/441.html
 | googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2206999495724021772
 | justia=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/239/441/
 | loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep239/usrep239441/usrep239441.pdf
}}

{{US Administrative law}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bi-Metallic Investment Co. V. State Board Of Equalization}}
[[Category:United States Supreme Court cases]]
[[Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the White Court]]
[[Category:United States civil due process case law]]
[[Category:United States administrative case law]]
[[Category:1915 in United States case law]]
[[Category:Property taxes]]
[[Category:History of Denver]]
[[Category:Legal history of Colorado]]