Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles

441 U.S. 434 · Decided April 30, 1979 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles was decided on April 30, 1979 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “State or local government tax” in the Economic Activity area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Japan Line, Ltd., et al. v. County of Los Angeles et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1978-085, docket 1978-085-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “State or local government tax”

• Arizona Public Service Co. v. SneadLaw held unconstitutional
  441 U.S. 141Decided April 18, 19799–0Potter Stewart
• Chase Manhattan Bank, N. A. v. Finance Administration of City of New York
  440 U.S. 447Decided March 5, 19799–0Per curiam
• Montana v. United States
  440 U.S. 147Decided February 22, 19798–1Thurgood Marshall
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  437 U.S. 255Decided June 15, 19788–1John Paul Stevens
• Moorman Manufacturing Co. v. Bair
  437 U.S. 267Decided June 15, 19786–3John Paul Stevens
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  445 U.S. 425Decided March 19, 19806–1Harry A. Blackmun

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Cases on the same legal provision: Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 3 (interstate commerce clause)

• Hughes v. OklahomaAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  441 U.S. 322Decided April 24, 19797–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• City of Philadelphia v. New JerseyLaw held unconstitutional
  437 U.S. 617Decided June 23, 19787–2Potter Stewart
• Lewis v. Bt Investment Managers, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  447 U.S. 27Decided June 9, 19809–0Harry A. Blackmun
• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake
  447 U.S. 429Decided June 19, 19805–4Harry A. Blackmun
• Raymond Motor Transportation, Inc. v. RiceLaw held unconstitutional
  434 U.S. 429Decided February 21, 19788–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising CommissionLaw held unconstitutional
  432 U.S. 333Decided June 20, 19778–0Warren E. Burger

Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)

• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System v. First Lincolnwood Corp.
  439 U.S. 234Decided December 11, 19787–2Thurgood Marshall
• Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp.
  439 U.S. 299Decided December 18, 19789–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Pennzoil Producing Co.
  439 U.S. 508Decided January 16, 19797–0Byron R. White
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Daniel
  439 U.S. 551Decided January 16, 19798–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Director v. Rasmussen
  440 U.S. 29Decided February 21, 19798–0William H. Rehnquist
• Butner v. United States
  440 U.S. 48Decided February 21, 19799–0John Paul Stevens

See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error