Over the nation’s history, the Supreme Court has made a myriad of decisions: many have been important, many have been controversial, and many have been, well, weird. American history is peppered with these obscure cases, but they are not just wacky, they have also had lasting impressions on American life. One such case starts with the famous sandwich topper, sauce essential, and caprese salad staple: the tomato.
This vegetable (wait, fruit?) came under fire in 1883 when the Port of New York, under the Tariff of 1883, taxed imported tomatoes as vegetables. The law had such a tax for vegetables, but, interestingly, not for fruit. Under technical terms, as a plant’s ovary that contains seeds, the tomato fits the scientific definition of a fruit. When the Nix family, regulars on the tomato import scene, realized this technicality, they were quick to take action. The family sued the Port of New York in an attempt to regain the money they had paid in tomato taxes over the years.
In the end, the Nix family’s attempts did not yield any fruit. The Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Collector of the Port of New York, Edward Heddens. In the opinion of the Court, the tomato often serves a different purpose than fruits, as it is usually a savory part of the main course, rather than a sweet dessert. When it came down to it, the Court felt that the public perception of the food held more weight than the botanical classification (or maybe they simply wanted a way to justify the tomato tax and keep the money flowing). The Court’s decision was clear: the tomato was, for all legal purposes, a vegetable.
While the Tariff of 1883 no longer applies today, the law and the subsequent case Nix v. Hedden raise interesting questions about the way we classify goods. Does the Court have the power to contradict botany? And, if we are going off the Court’s word, rather than science, what other laws draw arbitrary lines in the sand? These decisions set the precedent for years to come; it is critical that we examine rulings and hold the Court accountable. Not exactly tomayto, tomahto.