Jones v. Flowers
Jones v. Flowers, 547 U.S. 220 (2006), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the due process requirement that a state give notice to an owner before selling his property to satisfy his unpaid taxes. The Court ruled, 5-3, that after a mailed notice was returned unclaimed, a state was required by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to take additional reasonable steps to notify the owner before the sale could proceed. The Court's opinion was delivered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, his fourth majority opinion after his confirmation to the Court in 2005 and his first to provoke any dissenting opinions.

The Court had last addressed the issue of notice in "Dusenbery v. United States", which held that the government need only take steps reasonably calculated to provide notice even if actual notice is not achieved. The four justices who dissented in "Dusenbery" formed the majority with Roberts in "Jones v. Flowers", distinguishing the prior case on the basis that the government in "Dusenbery" did not know that its method of notice had failed before the taking occurred. Justice Clarence Thomas, in dissent, believed the Court was instead undermining "Dusenbery", which he argued implicitly dictated a result contrary to the majority's decision.
Q11201
Supreme Court of the United States
Concept
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due process
Concept
Q35657
state
Concept
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notice
Concept
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property
Concept
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taxes
Concept
Q35657
state
Concept
Q188116
Fourteenth Amendment
LOC
Q11147
Chief Justice
PER
Q11153
John G. Roberts
PER
Q188613
confirmation
Concept
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dissenting opinion
Concept
None
Dusenbery v. United States
UNK
Q4677830
actual notice
UNK
Q166332
taking
Concept
Q11142
Clarence Thomas
PER
Q6275344
Jones v. Flowers
EVE
Q6275344
Jones v. Flowers
EVE
2005-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2005
DATE
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2006
NUMBER
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5
NUMBER
-3^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-3
NUMBER
court
position held