Members of Congress' amicus brief influences U.S. Supreme Court unanimous decision vindicating property rights of elderly widow

Client(s) Members of Congress

Jones Day filed an amici brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, on behalf of U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer—the House Majority Whip—and three other members of Minnesota's congressional delegation, in support of Geraldine Tyler, a 94-year-old Minnesotan whose $40,000 home was taken by a Minnesota County to satisfy a $15,000 tax debt.  Jones Day's brief argued that the Eight Circuit's decision approving Minnesota's tax-surplus-retention regime violated the text and history of the Takings Clause by divesting property owners of long-standing interest in the value of their property. And the U.S. Supreme Court agreed.

In a unanimous opinion, the nine justices held that Minnesota's law illegally withheld Ms. Tyler's property and violated the Takings Clause under the well-established principle that a taxpayer is entitled to all surplus in excess of any debt owed.

Tyler v. Hennepin County, No. 22-166 (U.S.)