Toomer v. Witsell

334 U.S. 385 (1948)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The statutes Toomer (P) challenged relate to shrimping during the open season in the three-mile belt: South Carolina Code provides that the waters in that area shall be 'a common for the people of the State for the taking of fish.' Section 3374 imposes a tax of 1/8¢ a pound on green, or raw, shrimp taken in those waters. Section 3379 requires payment of a license fee of $25 for each shrimp boat owned by a resident and of $2,500 for each one owned by a nonresident. Another statute conditions the issuance of nonresident licenses for 1948 and the years thereafter on submission of proof that the applicants have paid South Carolina income taxes on all profits from operations in that State during the preceding year. Section 3414 requires that all boats licensed to trawl for shrimp in the State's waters dock at a South Carolina port and unload, pack, and stamp their catch 'before shipping or transporting it to another State or the waters thereof.' Violation of the fishing laws entails suspension of the violator's license, as well as a maximum of a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for a year, or a combination of a $500 fine and a year's imprisonment. This suit was taken to enjoin an unconstitutional the enforcement of these South Carolina statutes. Ps are all citizens and residents of Georgia.