“ The State Circuit Court in this case followed Ashland Oil to uphold the State's collection of the assessed taxes. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals refused to consider National's petition for appeal. ”

“ In its petition for certiorari to this Court, National contends, among other claims, that the state court erred in following Ashland Oil's nonretroactivity decision and allowing the State to enforce an unconstitutional tax statute. We agree. For the reasons stated today in Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Caryl, 497 U.S. 916, 110 S.Ct. 3202, 111 L.Ed.2d 734, we hold that Armco applies retroactively under the reasoning of either the plurality or the dissent in American Trucking Assns., Inc. ”