18
Opinion of Thomas, J.
acted" (footnote omitted). Vance v. Bradley, 440 U. S. 93, 97 (1979). Certainly, California's grand experiment appears to vest benefits in a broad, powerful, and entrenched segment of society, and, as the Court of Appeal surmised, ordinary democratic processes may be unlikely to prompt its reconsideration or repeal. See 225 Cal. App. 3d, at 1282, n. 11, 275 Cal. Rptr., at 698, n. 11. Yet many wise and well-intentioned laws suffer from the same malady. Article XIIIA is not palpably arbitrary, and we must decline petitioner's request to upset the will of the people of California.
The judgment of the Court of Appeal is affirmed.
It is so ordered.
Justice Thomas, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
In Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal Co. v. County Comm'n of Webster Cty., 488 U. S. 336 (1989), this Court struck down an assessment method used in Webster County, West Virginia, that operated precisely the same way as the California scheme being challenged today. I agree with the Court that Proposition 13 is constitutional. But I also agree with Justice Stevens that Allegheny Pittsburgh cannot be distinguished. See post, at 31-32. To me Allegheny Pittsburgh represents a "needlessly intrusive judicial infringement on the State's legislative powers," New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U. S. 297, 306 (1976) (per curiam), and I write separately because I see no benefit, and much risk, in refusing to confront it directly.
I
Allegheny Pittsburgh involved a county assessment scheme indistinguishable in relevant respects from Proposition 13. As the Court explains, California taxes real property at 1% of "full cash value," which means the "assessed value" as of 1975 (under the previous method) and after 1975-1976 the "appraised value of real property when pur-
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