No. 19-402October Term 2019Decided Feb 24, 2020Updated Feb 24, 2020
Baldwin v. United States
This case asks whether a federal agency can adopt a new interpretation of an ambiguous statute that overrides an earlier interpretation by a federal court of appeals.
Case status
Decided · February 24, 2020
Read the opinion (PDF)- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Feb 24, 2020
- What it's about
This case asks whether a federal agency can adopt a new interpretation of an ambiguous statute that overrides an earlier interpretation by a federal court of appeals. In a tax dispute over 26 U.S.C. § 7502, the Ninth Circuit held that the IRS’s later interpretation displaced the circuit’s older precedent recognizing the common-law mailbox rule.
Question presented
Whether this Court’s decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Ass’n v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U.S. 967 (2005), should be overruled.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit / Decision released Feb 24, 2020
- Area
Administrative Law
Timing
Decided February 24, 2020
The Court released its decision on February 24, 2020 without hearing oral argument.
Documents
Activity
Docket activity2
Opinion added: Opinion
Feb 24, 2020 | Court records
Brief added: Petition
Sep 23, 2019 | Court records
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 25, 2026
- Method
- Methodology