THE PERSISTENT PROBLEM OF MEDIA TAXATION - FIRST-AMENDMENT PROTECTIONIN THE 1990S

This article examines U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding the const itutionality of taxation of the mass media. It concludes that the Cour t's 1991 decision in Leathers v. Medlock does not represent a substant ial change in the law governing taxation of the media but is one step in the evolution of two distinct lines of media taxation cases. The ar ticle also examines how the lower courts have applied Leathers in the six years since it was decided. The lower court decisions uniformly - although not explicitly - recognize the two lines. What is needed now is explicit recognition by both the Supreme Court and the lower courts .