List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 274

Coordinates: 38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W / 38.89056; -77.00444
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Supreme Court of the United States
Map
38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W / 38.89056; -77.00444
EstablishedMarch 4, 1789; 235 years ago (1789-03-04)
LocationWashington, D.C.
Coordinates38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W / 38.89056; -77.00444
Composition methodPresidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Authorized byConstitution of the United States, Art. III, § 1
Judge term lengthlife tenure, subject to impeachment and removal
Number of positions9 (by statute)
Websitesupremecourt.gov

This is a list of cases reported in volume 274 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1927.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 274 U.S.

The Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).[1] Since 1789, Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).

When the cases in volume 274 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate
(Vote)
Tenure on Supreme Court
William Howard Taft Chief Justice Connecticut Edward Douglass White June 30, 1921
(Acclamation)
July 11, 1921

February 3, 1930
(Retired)
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Associate Justice Massachusetts Horace Gray December 4, 1902
(Acclamation)
December 8, 1902

January 12, 1932
(Retired)
Willis Van Devanter Associate Justice Wyoming Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) December 15, 1910
(Acclamation)
January 3, 1911

June 2, 1937
(Retired)
James Clark McReynolds Associate Justice Tennessee Horace Harmon Lurton August 29, 1914
(44–6)
October 12, 1914

January 31, 1941
(Retired)
Louis Brandeis Associate Justice Massachusetts Joseph Rucker Lamar June 1, 1916
(47–22)
June 5, 1916

February 13, 1939
(Retired)
George Sutherland Associate Justice Utah John Hessin Clarke September 5, 1922
(Acclamation)
October 2, 1922

January 17, 1938
(Retired)
Pierce Butler Associate Justice Minnesota William R. Day December 21, 1922
(61–8)
January 2, 1923

November 16, 1939
(Died)
Edward Terry Sanford Associate Justice Tennessee Mahlon Pitney January 29, 1923
(Acclamation)
February 19, 1923

March 8, 1930
(Died)
Harlan F. Stone Associate Justice New York Joseph McKenna February 5, 1925
(71–6)
March 2, 1925

July 2, 1941
(Continued as chief justice)

Notable Cases in 274 U.S.

Buck v. Bell

In Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927), the Supreme Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the intellectually disabled, "for the protection and health of the state" did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Despite the changing attitudes in the coming decades regarding sterilization, the Supreme Court has never expressly overturned Buck v. Bell.[2] It was widely believed to have been slightly weakened by Skinner v. Oklahoma 316 U.S. 535 (1942), which involved compulsory sterilization of male habitual criminals (and came to a contrary result).[3][4]

Whitney v. California

In Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927), the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a person who had engaged in speech that raised a threat to society. The question before the court was whether the 1919 Criminal Syndicalism Act of California violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. The Court unanimously upheld Whitney's conviction; holding that the state, in exercise of its police power, has the power to punish those who abuse their rights to freedom of speech "by utterances inimical to the public welfare, tending to incite crime, disturb the public peace, or endanger the foundations of organized government and threaten its overthrow." In other words, words with a "bad tendency" can be punished.

United States v. Lee

United States v. Lee, 274 U.S. 559 (1927), is a significant decision by the Supreme Court protecting prohibition laws. The Court held 1) the U.S. Coast Guard may seize, board, and search vessels beyond the U.S. territorial waters and the high seas 12 miles outward from the coast if probable cause exists to believe that the vessel and persons in it are violating U.S. revenue laws, and 2) the Coast Guard's use of searchlights to view contents of a vessel on the high seas does not constitute a search and thus does not warrant Fourth Amendment protections; the use of a searchlight is comparable to the use of binoculars, and the courts have long held that use of binoculars by law enforcement is not prohibited by the Constitution.

Citation style

Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.

The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari. On January 1, 1912, the effective date of the Judicial Code of 1911, the old Circuit Courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. District Courts.

Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.

List of cases in volume 274 U.S.

Case Name Page and year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition
Fairmont Creamery Company v. Minnesota 1 (1927) McReynolds none none Minn. reversed
Ohio Public Service Company v. Ohio ex rel. Fritz 12 (1927) McReynolds none none Ohio reversed
Hodgson v. Federal Oil and Development Company 15 (1927) McReynolds none none 8th Cir. affirmed
Hoffman v. Missouri ex rel. Foraker 21 (1927) Brandeis none none Mo. affirmed
Lowe v. Dickson 23 (1927) Sutherland none none Okla. reversed
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company v. United States 29 (1927) Sutherland none none N.D. Tex. affirmed
Bedford Cut Stone Company v. Journeymen Stone Cutters' Association of North America 37 (1927) Sutherland Sanford; Stone Brandeis 7th Cir. reversed
Northern Railroad Company v. Page 65 (1927) Butler none none 1st Cir. reversed
Southern Railroad Company v. Kentucky 76 (1927) Butler none Brandeis Ky. reversed
McDonald v. Maxwell 91 (1927) Sanford none none D.C. Cir. reversed
American National Company v. United States 99 (1927) Sanford none none W.D. Okla. reversed
United States ex rel. Norwegian Nitrogen Products Company v. United States Tariff Commission 106 (1927) Stone none none D.C. Cir. vacated
Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Company, Inc. v. Yeldell 112 (1927) Stone none none Ala. affirmed
New York Dock Company v. Steamship Poznan 117 (1927) Stone none none 2d Cir. reversed
Fidelity National Bank and Trust Company of Kansas City v. Swope 123 (1927) Stone none none 8th Cir. reversed
Morris v. Duby 135 (1927) Taft none none D. Or. affirmed
Federal Trade Commission v. Klesner 145 (1927) Taft none McReynolds D.C. Cir. reversed
Federal Trade Commission v. Claire Furnace Company 160 (1927) Taft none McReynolds D.C. Cir. reversed
Kadow v. Paul 175 (1927) Taft none none Wash. affirmed
Timken Roller Bearing Company v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company 181 (1927) Taft none none N.D. Ohio transfer to 6th Cir.
Road Improvement District No. 1 of Franklin County, Arkansas v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company 188 (1927) VanDevanter none none 8th Cir. affirmed
Duignan v. United States 195 (1927) Stone none none 2d Cir. affirmed
Buck v. Bell 200 (1927) Holmes none none Va. affirmed
Burnrite Coal Briquette Company v. Riggs 208 (1927) Brandeis none none 3d Cir. affirmed
Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company v. United States 215 (1927) Butler none none Ct. Cl. reversed
Kercheval v. United States 220 (1927) Butler none none 8th Cir. reversed
United States v. Stone and Downer Company 225 (1927) Taft none McReynolds Ct. Cust. App. reversed
Zimmermann v. Sutherland 253 (1927) Holmes none none 2d Cir. affirmed
Westfall v. United States 256 (1927) Holmes none none 6th Cir. certification
United States v. Sullivan 259 (1927) Holmes none none 4th Cir. reversed
United States v. Alford 264 (1927) Holmes none none N.D. Fla. reversed
United States v. Sisal Sales Corporation 268 (1927) McReynolds none none S.D.N.Y. reversed
Deal v. United States 277 (1927) McReynolds none none 9th Cir. reversed
Hope Natural Gas Company v. Hall 284 (1927) McReynolds none none W. Va. affirmed
Alston v. United States 289 (1927) McReynolds none none 8th Cir. affirmed
United States v. Ludey 295 (1927) Brandeis none none Ct. Cl. reversed
St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company v. Spiller 304 (1927) Brandeis none none 8th Cir. multiple
Baltimore Steamship Company v. Phillips 316 (1927) Sutherland none none 2d Cir. reversed
Zahn v. Board of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles 325 (1927) Sutherland none none Cal. affirmed
Burns v. United States 328 (1927) Butler none Brandeis N.D. Cal. affirmed
Phelps v. United States 341 (1927) Butler none none Ct. Cl. reversed
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company v. Public Utilities Commission of Idaho 344 (1927) Butler none none Idaho reversed
Hess v. Pawloski 352 (1927) Butler none none Mass. Super. Ct. affirmed
Whitney v. California 357 (1927) Sanford Brandeis none Cal. Ct. App. affirmed
Fiske v. Kansas 380 (1927) Sanford none none Kan. reversed
Fort Smith Light and Traction Company v. Board of Improvement of Paving District No. 16 of Fort Smith 387 (1927) Stone none none Ark. affirmed
Ohio ex rel. Clarke v. Deckebach 392 (1927) Stone none none Ohio affirmed
United States v. S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Company 398 (1927) Stone none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Seeman v. Philadelphia Warehouse Company 403 (1927) Stone none none 2d Cir. affirmed
Posados v. City of Manila 410 (1927) Taft none none Phil affirmed
Overland Motor Company v. Packard Motor Company 417 (1927) Taft none none 7th Cir. certification
Messel v. Foundation Company 427 (1927) Taft none none La. reversed
Rhea v. Smith 434 (1927) Taft none none Mo. reversed
Cline v. Frink Dairy Company 445 (1927) Taft none none D. Colo. multiple
United States v. Freights of Steamship Mount Shasta 466 (1927) Holmes none McReynolds D. Mass. reversed
Empire Trust Company v. Cahan 473 (1927) Holmes none none 2d Cir. reversed
Biddle v. Perovich 480 (1927) Holmes none none 8th Cir. certification
New York v. Illinois and Sanitary District of Chicago 488 (1927) VanDevanter none none original motion to strike granted
Power Manufacturing Company v. Saunders 490 (1927) VanDevanter none Holmes Ark. reversed
Longest v. Langford 499 (1927) VanDevanter none none Okla. dismissed
Maul v. United States 501 (1927) VanDevanter Brandeis none 2d Cir. affirmed
Nichols v. Coolidge 531 (1927) McReynolds none none D. Mass. affirmed
Federal Trade Commission v. American Tobacco Company 543 (1927) McReynolds none none 2d Cir. affirmed
Joines v. Patterson 544 (1927) McReynolds none none Okla. reversed
Clark v. Poor 554 (1927) Brandeis none none S.D. Ohio affirmed
United States v. Lee 559 (1927) Brandeis none none 1st Cir. reversed
Assigned Car Cases 564 (1927) Brandeis none McReynolds E.D. Pa. reversed
Lawrence v. St. Louis–San Francisco Railway Company 588 (1927) Brandeis none none N.D. Okla. reversed
Arkansas Railroad Commission v. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company 597 (1927) Brandeis none none E.D. Ark. reversed
Gorieb v. Fox 603 (1927) Sutherland none none Va. affirmed
Merritt and Chapman Derrick and Wrecking Company v. United States 611 (1927) Butler none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed
Stewart and Company v. Rivara 614 (1927) Butler none none N.Y. Sup. Ct. affirmed
Federal Trade Commission v. Eastman Kodak Company 619 (1927) Sanford none Stone 2d Cir. affirmed
Portneuf-Marsh Valley Canal Company v. Brown 630 (1927) Stone none none 9th Cir. affirmed
Independent Coal and Coke Company v. United States 640 (1927) Stone none none 8th Cir. affirmed
Fox River Paper Company v. Railroad Commission of Wisconsin 651 (1927) Stone none none Wis. affirmed
Weedin v. Chin Bow 657 (1927) Taft none none 9th Cir. reversed
City of Vidalia v. McNeely 676 (1927) VanDevanter none none W.D. La. affirmed
Twist v. Prairie Oil and Gas Company 684 (1927) Brandeis none none 8th Cir. reversed
United States v. International Harvester Company 693 (1927) Sanford none none D. Minn. affirmed

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Supreme Court Research Guide". Georgetown Law Library. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  2. ^ James W. Ellis, Disability Advocacy and Atkins, 57 DePaul Law Review 653, 657 (2008) ("In the eight decades since Buck, the Court has never overruled it.").
  3. ^ Kaelber, Lutz. "Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States - Virginia". Lutz Kaelber, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Vermont. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "Sexual Sterilization, Virginia Code §§ 54.1-2974 - 54.1-2980". General Assembly of Virginia. Retrieved May 30, 2015.

External links