Steptoe Wins Victory in the US Supreme Court

Steptoe won an important victory for its client, the Association of American Railroads (AAR), in the US Supreme Court.  The case, CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Georgia State Board of Equalization,  involved state tax discrimination against railroads.  AAR was an amicus curiae, siding with petitioner CSXT in urging the Court to reverse a ruling of the Eleventh Circuit that had limited the evidence railroads could offer in district court in attempting to prove discrimination under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform ("4-R") Act. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts, agreed with the arguments put forth by CSXT and AAR, holding that "railroads may challenge state methods for determining the value of railroad property, as well as how those methods are applied." The case was a sequel to a 1987 case, Burlington Northern R. Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Comm’n, in which Steptoe had represented the winning petitioner, Burlington Northern.   Betty Jo Christian, Tim Walsh, and John P. Nolan in Washington, and Michael Vatis in New York, worked on the amicus brief for AAR.