| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation |
| Authority: | Constitution of the United States, Art. III, §1 |
| Terms: | life tenure, subject to impeachment and removal |
| Positions: | 9 (by statute) |
This is a list of cases reported in volume 310 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940.
See also: List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
See also: List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office.
See also: List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by court composition.
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 310 were decided the Court comprised the following members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Evans Hughes | Chief Justice | New York | William Howard Taft | (52–26) | – June 30, 1941 (Retired) | |
| James Clark McReynolds | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Horace Harmon Lurton | (44–6) | – January 31, 1941 (Retired) | |
| Harlan F. Stone | Associate Justice | New York | Joseph McKenna | (71–6) | – July 2, 1941 (Continued as chief justice) | |
| Owen Roberts | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Edward Terry Sanford | (Acclamation) | – July 31, 1945 (Resigned) | |
| Hugo Black | Associate Justice | Alabama | Willis Van Devanter | (63–16) | – September 17, 1971 (Retired) | |
| Stanley Forman Reed | Associate Justice | Kentucky | George Sutherland | (Acclamation) | – February 25, 1957 (Retired) | |
| Felix Frankfurter | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Benjamin Nathan Cardozo | (Acclamation) | – August 28, 1962 (Retired) | |
| William O. Douglas | Associate Justice | Connecticut | Louis Brandeis | (62–4) | – November 12, 1975 (Retired) | |
| Frank Murphy | Associate Justice | Michigan | Pierce Butler | (Acclamation) | – July 19, 1949 (Died) | |
Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 88 (1940), is a US labor law case. In it the Supreme Court reversed the conviction of the president of a local union for violating an Alabama statute that prohibited only labor picketing. Thornhill was peaceably picketing his employer during an authorized strike when he was arrested and charged. In reaching its decision, the Supreme Court decided that the free speech clause protects speech about the facts and circumstances of a labor dispute. The statute in the case prohibited all labor picketing, but the Thornhill decision added peaceful labor picketing to the area protected by free speech.[2]
United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, 310 U.S. 150 (1940), is a landmark anti-trust decision of the Supreme Court widely cited for the proposition that price-fixing is illegal per se. Socony has been cited and quoted many times for its statements that the rule against price-fixing is sweeping, and was, at least until recently, the most widely cited case on price fixing.[3]
In Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment's federal protection of religious free exercise incorporates via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applies to state governments too.
Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (1940), involved the religious rights of public school students under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that public schools could compel students (in this case, Jehovah's Witnesses) to salute the American flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance despite the students' religious objections to these practices. This decision led to increased persecution of Witnesses in the United States. The Supreme Court overruled this decision three years later in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette(1943).
See also: United States district court.
See also: United States court of appeals.
See also: United States federal courts. 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.
See also: Hughes Court.
| Case name | Citation | Opinion of the Court | Vote | Concurring opinion or statement | Dissenting opinion or statement | Procedural jurisdiction | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Joint Stock Land Bank of Detroit v. Byerly | 310 U.S. 1 (1940) | Roberts | 6-3 | none | Black, Douglas, and Murphy (joint opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Cir.) | reversed |
| United States v. City of San Francisco | 310 U.S. 16 (1940) | Black | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (without opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | reversed |
| Veix v. Sixth Ward Building and Loan Association of Newark | 310 U.S. 32 (1940) | Reed | 9-0 | McReynolds (without opinion) | none | appeal from the New Jersey Supreme Court (N.J. Sup. Ct.) | affirmed |
| Colorado National Bank of Denver v. Bedford | 310 U.S. 41 (1940) | Reed | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Colorado Supreme Court (Colo.) | affirmed |
| Osborn v. Ozlin | 310 U.S. 53 (1940) | Frankfurter | 6-3 | none | Roberts (opinion; joined by Hughes and McReynolds) | appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (E.D. Va.) | affirmed |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Fuller | 310 U.S. 69 (1940) | Douglas | 8-1 | none | Reed (opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | affirmed |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Leonard | 310 U.S. 80 (1940) | Douglas | 6-3 | none | Hughes, McReynolds, and Roberts (without opinions) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | reversed |
| Thornhill v. Alabama | 310 U.S. 88 (1940) | Murphy | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (without opinion) | certiorari to the Alabama Court of Appeals (Ala. Ct. App.) | reversed |
| Carlson v. California | 310 U.S. 106 (1940) | Murphy | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (without opinion) | appeal from the Superior Court of California (Cal. Super.) | reversed |
| Perkins, Secretary of Labor v. Lukens Steel Company | 310 U.S. 113 (1940) | Black | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (without opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Cir.) | reversed |
| Warren v. Palmer | 310 U.S. 132 (1940) | Reed | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | affirmed |
| Tigner v. Texas | 310 U.S. 141 (1940) | Frankfurter | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (without opinion) | appeal from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (Tex. Crim. App.) | affirmed |
| United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Company | 310 U.S. 150 (1940) | Douglas | 5-2[a][b] | none | Roberts (opinion; with which McReynolds concurred) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | reversed |
| Dampskibsselskabet Dannebrog v. Signal Oil and Gas Company of California | 310 U.S. 268 (1940) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | affirmed |
| Sontag Chain Stores Company v. National Nut Company of California | 310 U.S. 281 (1940) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | reversed |
| Cantwell v. Connecticut | 310 U.S. 296 (1940) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from and certiorari to the Connecticut Supreme Court (Conn.) | reversed |
| Borchard v. California Bank | 310 U.S. 311 (1940) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | reversed |
| National Labor Relations Board v. Bradford Dyeing Association | 310 U.S. 318 (1940) | Black | 8-0[c] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | reversed |
| United States v. Chicago Heights Trucking Company | 310 U.S. 344 (1940) | Black | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (N.D. Ill.) | reversed |
| Ex parte Bransford, Treasurer of Pima County | 310 U.S. 354 (1940) | Reed | 9-0 | none | none | motion for mandamus to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona (D. Ariz.) | mandamus denied |
| Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway Company v. Browning and Others, Constituting the State Board of Equalization of Tennessee | 310 U.S. 362 (1940) | Frankfurter | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Tennessee Supreme Court (Tenn.) | affirmed |
| United States v. Bush and Company | 310 U.S. 371 (1940) | Douglas | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (without opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (Ct. Cust. & Pat. App.) | reversed |
| Sunshine Anthracite Coal Company v. Adkins, Collector of Internal Revenue | 310 U.S. 381 (1940) | Douglas | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (short statement) | appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (E.D. Ark.) | affirmed |
| Anderson v. Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 310 U.S. 404 (1940) | Murphy | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (10th Cir.) | affirmed |
| United States v. Summerlin | 310 U.S. 414 (1940) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Florida Supreme Court (Fla.) | reversed |
| Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission v. Colburn | 310 U.S. 419 (1940) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals (N.J.) | reversed |
| Securities and Exchange Commission v. United States Realty and Improvement Company | 310 U.S. 434 (1940) | Stone | 5-3[d] | none | Roberts (opinion; with which Hughes and McReynolds concurred) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | reversed |
| Apex Hosiery Company v. Leader | 310 U.S. 469 (1940) | Stone | 6-3 | none | Hughes (opinion; joined by McReynolds and Roberts) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | affirmed |
| White v. Texas | 310 U.S. 530 (1940) | Black | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (Tex. Crim. App.) | rehearing denied |
| United States v. American Trucking Associations | 310 U.S. 534 (1940) | Reed | 5-4 | none | Hughes, McReynolds, Stone, and Roberts (joint short statement) | appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.) | reversed |
| United States v. Dickerson | 310 U.S. 554 (1940) | Murphy | 5-4 | none | Hughes, McReynolds, Stone, and Roberts (joint short statement) | certiorari to the United States Court of Claims (Ct. Cl.) | reversed |
| Arkansas v. Tennessee | 310 U.S. 563 (1940) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | boundary set | |
| Railroad Commission of Texas v. Rowan and Nichols Oil Company | 310 U.S. 573 (1940) | Frankfurter | 6-3 | none | Roberts (opinion; joined by Hughes and McReynolds) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | reversed |
| Minersville School District v. Gobitis | 310 U.S. 586 (1940) | Frankfurter | 8-1 | McReynolds (without opinion) | Stone (opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | reversed |
[a] Hughes took no part in the case
[b] Murphy took no part in the case
[c] McReynolds took no part in the case
[d] Douglas took no part in the case