End date 1982 | ||
Full case name Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc., et al. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico Citations 458 U.S. 832 (more)
102 S. Ct. 3394; 73 L. Ed. 2d 1174; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 50; 50 U.S.L.W. 5101 Prior history Ramah Navajo School Board., Inc., et al. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico, 625 P.2d 1225 (New Mex. App. 1980) Majority Marshall, joined by Burger, Brennan, Blackmun, Powell, O'Connor Dissent Rehnquist, joined by White, Stevens | ||
Ramah Navajo School Board, Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico, 458 U.S. 832 (1982), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the state was not authorized to impose taxes on a construction company building a school on a Native American (Indian) reservation.
Background
The children of Ramah Navajo Chapter of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico attended a public high school that was near the Navajo Reservation until the state closed the school in 1968. No other public schools were nearby, and children either did not attend high school or had to go to a federal Indian boarding school, none of which were close to the reservation. The New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department assessed taxes on the construction company who built the school.