Federal income tax power
In Re Aaron Eriksson, Petitioner
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
Petition denied.
- What it’s about
- Aaron Eriksson asked the Supreme Court to order the IRS commissioner to stop directly administering federal income taxes for individuals, arguing that this violated constitutional rights and federalism.
- Who it affects
- Eriksson did not get the order he requested against the IRS commissioner; the Court did not resolve his constitutional challenge.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about
The Court denied the petition (refused to grant the requested order) without deciding those claims.
Eriksson argued that the Sixteenth Amendment weakened Bill of Rights protections in federal tax matters.
Question presented
1. Whether the federal government’s direct administration of the income tax against natural persons violates the Bill of Rights and the structural federalism of the Constitution by subjecting individuals to federal power that was never delegated to it and by displacing the sovereign States as constitutional intermediaries. 2. Whether the Sixteenth Amendment has turned the Bill of Rights into a mere parchment barrier by rendering its protections optional in the realm of taxation through a self-reinforcing regime of direct federal control over natural persons that is accelerating the erosion of constitutional limitations. 3. Whether this Court should issue a writ of mandamus compelling the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to cease exercising direct administrative authority over natural persons, where the violation is systemic, entrenched, and cannot be adequately remedied through ordinary judicial processes.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
AI analysis generated: Decision Record
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.