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Supreme Court · Decisions

Kraft General Foods, Inc. v. Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance

505 U.S. 71 · No. 90-1918 · 1991 term · Rehnquist Court

Decided Jun 18, 1992 · argued Apr 22, 1992

Economic activity · State or local government tax

Struck down a state law

Majority opinion: John Stevens

The voteMajorityDissent

7–27 in the majority, 2 in dissent

2 dissents (7–2)

Reversed and remanded. Kraft General Foods, Inc. won.

What this ruling means

Reversed and remanded: the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Iowa Supreme Court and sent the case back to that court for further proceedings that follow the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Kraft General Foods, Inc. was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Won” means the Court gave that side the result it asked for.

From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.

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Summary

The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.

Wikipedia has no article on this case, so there is no summary.

Data notes

The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.

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How the justices voted

Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 1991 term. Filled: the 7 in the majority. Hollow: the 2 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.

More liberalMore conservativeMedianStevensBlackmunSouterWhiteO'ConnorKennedyRehnquistScaliaThomas

Majority(7)

Dissent(2)

Data notes

Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.

Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.

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The parties

Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.

Petitioner
Kraft General Foods, Inc.State or local governmental taxpayer, or executor of the estate (Iowa)
Respondent
Iowa Department of Revenue and FinanceState department or agency (Iowa)
Reached the Court by
Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes

The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.

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The law at issue

The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.

Provision
Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 3 (interstate commerce clause)
Kind of law
Constitution
Decided by
Judicial review (state level)
Struck down
A state law, as unconstitutional
Data notes

The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.

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Timeline

What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.

  1. Jun 18, 1992DecidedDecided · Decided 7–2: reversed and remanded. Kraft General Foods, Inc. won.
  2. Apr 22, 1992ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
  3. Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
  4. Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the Iowa Supreme Court: affirmed.
  5. Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the Iowa trial court.
Data notes

From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.

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  142. Interstate Oil Pipe Line Co. v. Stone, Chairman State Tax Commission337 U.S. 662Jun 20, 1949 · 337 U.S. 662Economic activity5–45–4 band
  143. Wheeling Steel Corp. v. Glander, Tax Commissioner of Ohio337 U.S. 562Jun 20, 1949 · 337 U.S. 562Economic activity7–27–2 band

  144. Joy Oil Co., Ltd. v. State Tax Commission337 U.S. 286Jun 13, 1949 · 337 U.S. 286Economic activity6–36–3 band
  145. Empresa Siderurgica, S. A., et al. v. County of Merced et al.337 U.S. 154May 31, 1949 · 337 U.S. 154Economic activity8–18–1 band
  146. Ott, Commissioner of Public Finance, et al. v. Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co. et al.336 U.S. 169Feb 7, 1949 · 336 U.S. 169Economic activity8–18–1 band
  147. Memphis Natural Gas Co. v. Stone, Chairman, State Tax Commission335 U.S. 80Jun 21, 1948 · 335 U.S. 80Economic activity5–45–4 band
  148. West v. Oklahoma Tax Commission334 U.S. 717Jun 14, 1948 · 334 U.S. 717Economic activity6–36–3 band
  149. Central Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Mealey et al.334 U.S. 653Jun 14, 1948 · 334 U.S. 653Economic activity6–36–3 band
  150. Aero Mayflower Transit Co. v. Board of Railroad Commissioners of Montana et al.332 U.S. 495Dec 8, 1947 · 332 U.S. 495Economic activity9–0Unanimous band
  151. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co. v. Phillips, State Revenue Commissioner332 U.S. 168Jun 23, 1947 · 332 U.S. 168Economic activity9–0Unanimous band
  152. Greenough et al., Trustees, v. Tax Assessors of Newport et al.331 U.S. 486Jun 9, 1947 · 331 U.S. 486Economic activity5–45–4 band
  153. Independent Warehouses, Inc. et al. v. Scheele, Recorder of the Township of Saddle River, et al.331 U.S. 70Apr 14, 1947 · 331 U.S. 70Economic activity7–27–2 band
  154. Joseph, Comptroller, et al. v. Carter & Weekes Stevedoring Co.330 U.S. 422Mar 10, 1947 · 330 U.S. 422Economic activity5–45–4 band
  155. International Harvester Co. v. Evatt, Tax Commissioner329 U.S. 416Jan 6, 1947 · 329 U.S. 416Economic activity9–0Unanimous band
  156. Freeman, Trustee, v. Hewit, Director of Gross Income Tax Division329 U.S. 249Dec 16, 1946 · 329 U.S. 249Economic activity6–36–3 band
  157. Richfield Oil Corp. v. State Board of Equalization329 U.S. 69Nov 25, 1946 · 329 U.S. 69Economic activity7–18–1 band
Data notes

Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.

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Read the full opinion on Justia and the argument audio on Oyez. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.