| 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 279 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1929.
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 279 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 | (Acclamation) | – February 3, 1930 (Retired) | |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | (Acclamation) | – January 12, 1932 (Retired) | |
| Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | (Acclamation) | – June 2, 1937 (Retired) | |
| James Clark McReynolds | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Horace Harmon Lurton | (44–6) | – January 31, 1941 (Retired) | |
| Louis Brandeis | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Joseph Rucker Lamar | (47–22) | – February 13, 1939 (Retired) | |
| George Sutherland | Associate Justice | Utah | John Hessin Clarke | (Acclamation) | – January 17, 1938 (Retired) | |
| Pierce Butler | Associate Justice | Minnesota | William R. Day | (61–8) | – November 16, 1939 (Died) | |
| Edward Terry Sanford | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Mahlon Pitney | (Acclamation) | – March 8, 1930 (Died) | |
| Harlan F. Stone | Associate Justice | New York | Joseph McKenna | (71–6) | – July 2, 1941 (Continued as chief justice) | |
United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929), concerned a pacifist applicant for naturalization who in the interview declared not to be willing to "take up arms personally" in defense of the United States. Originally found unable by the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to take the prescribed oath of allegiance, a decision reversed on appeal, the case was ultimately argued before the Supreme Court, which ruled against the applicant and so denied her the possibility of becoming a United States citizen.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice O.W. Holmes wrote:
"The views referred to are an extreme opinion in favor of pacifism and a statement that she would not bear arms to defend the Constitution. So far as the adequacy of her oath is concerned, I hardly can see how that is affected by the statement, inasmuch as she is a woman over fifty years of age, and would not be allowed to bear arms if she wanted to. . . . [I]f there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought -— not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate."
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.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
See also: Taft Court.
| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manley v. Georgia | 1 (1929) | Butler | none | none | reversed | |
| Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company v. Koske | 7 (1929) | Butler | none | none | reversed | |
| McDonald v. United States | 12 (1929) | Butler | none | none | affirmed | |
| Morimura et al. Company v. Taback | 24 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | reversed | |
| Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company v. Davis | 34 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | reversed | |
| Leonard v. United States | 40 (1929) | Stone | none | none | affirmed | |
| Nielsen v. Johnson | 47 (1929) | Stone | none | none | reversed | |
| Flink v. Paladini | 59 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | affirmed | |
| Lewis v. United States | 63 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. New York Central Railroad Company | 73 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | affirmed | |
| Spokane County v. United States | 80 (1929) | Taft | none | none | affirmed | |
| Carson Petroleum Company v. Vial | 95 (1929) | Taft | none | none | reversed | |
| London et al. Company v. California Industrial Accident Commission | 109 (1929) | Taft | none | none | reversed | |
| Sutter Butte Canal Company v. California Railroad Commission | 125 (1929) | Taft | none | none | affirmed | |
| Alberto v. Nicolas | 139 (1929) | Taft | none | none | reversed | |
| Ithaca Trust Company v. United States | 151 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | reversed | |
| United States Printing Company v. Griggs, C. and Company | 156 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | reversed | |
| Gilchrist v. Interborough Rapid Transit Company | 159 (1929) | McReynolds | none | none | reversed | |
| Pampanga Sugar Mills v. Trinidad | 211 (1929) | Brandeis | none | none | affirmed | |
| Riehle v. Margolies | 218 (1929) | Brandeis | none | none | affirmed | |
| Alabama v. United States | 229 (1929) | Sutherland | none | none | affirmed | |
| Karnuth v. United States ex rel. Albro | 231 (1929) | Sutherland | none | none | reversed | |
| Helson v. Kentucky | 245 (1929) | Sutherland | Stone | none | reversed | |
| Highland v. Russell Car Snow Plow Company | 253 (1929) | Butler | none | none | affirmed | |
| Sinclair v. United States | 263 (1929) | Butler | none | none | affirmed | |
| Grayson v. Harris | 300 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | reversed | |
| Compañia General v. Collector of Internal Revenue | 306 (1929) | Stone | none | none | affirmed | |
| New York Central Railroad Company v. Johnson | 310 (1929) | Stone | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company v. Chatters | 320 (1929) | Stone | none | none | reversed | |
| Weiss v. Weiner | 333 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | reversed | |
| Roschen v. Ward | 337 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | affirmed | |
| Posados v. Warner, Barnes and Company | 340 (1929) | Butler | none | none | reversed | |
| Ex parte Worcester County National Bank | 347 (1929) | Taft | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Fruit Growers Express Company | 363 (1929) | Taft | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. J. Barth Company | 370 (1929) | Taft | none | none | reversed | |
| Douglas v. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company | 377 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | affirmed | |
| Becher v. Contoure Laboratories, Inc. | 388 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | affirmed | |
| Leonard v. Earle | 392 (1929) | McReynolds | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States ex rel. Claussen v. Day | 398 (1929) | Butler | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Galveston et al. Railroad Company | 401 (1929) | Butler | none | none | affirmed | |
| Morris and Company v. Skandinavia Insurance Company | 405 (1929) | Butler | none | none | affirmed | |
| Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Company v. Rock | 410 (1929) | Butler | none | none | reversed | |
| Central New England Railway Company v. Boston and Albany Railroad Company | 415 (1929) | Stone | none | none | affirmed | |
| New York v. Latrobe | 421 (1929) | Stone | none | none | reversed | |
| International Shoe Company v. Shartel | 429 (1929) | Stone | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. American et al. Company | 435 (1929) | Holmes | none | none | reversed | |
| Ex parte Bakelite Corporation | 438 (1929) | VanDevanter | none | none | prohibition denied | |
| St. Louis & O.R.R. Co. v. United States | 461 (1929) | McReynolds | none | Brandeis; Stone | reversed | |
| United States v. California C.C. | 553 (1929) | Brandeis | none | none | reversed | |
| St. Louis–San Francisco Railway Company v. Alabama Public Service Commission | 560 (1929) | Brandeis | none | none | vacated | |
| W.A. Marshall and Company v. The President Arthur | 564 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Lucas v. Alexander | 573 (1929) | Stone | none | none | 6th Cir. | affirmed |
| Standard Oil Company v. City of Marysville | 582 (1929) | Stone | none | none | affirmed | |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company v. Stapleton | 587 (1929) | Taft | none | none | reversed | |
| Barry v. United States ex rel. Cunningham | 597 (1929) | Sutherland | none | none | reversed | |
| Macallen Company v. Massachusetts | 620 (1929) | Sutherland | none | none | reversed | |
| Western and Atlantic Railroad Company v. Henderson | 639 (1929) | Butler | none | none | reversed | |
| United States v. Schwimmer | 644 (1929) | Butler | none | Holmes | reversed | |
| The Pocket Veto Case | 655 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | affirmed | |
| White River Lumber Company v. Arkansas ex rel. Applegate | 692 (1929) | Sanford | none | Butler | affirmed | |
| Gulf Refining Company v. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company | 708 (1929) | Stone | none | none | affirmed | |
| Old Colony Trust Company v. Commissioner | 716 (1929) | Taft | none | McReynolds | certification | |
| United States v. Boston and Maine Railroad Company | 732 (1929) | Taft | none | none | certification | |
| AAONMS v. Michaux | 737 (1929) | VanDevanter | none | none | reversed | |
| Sinclair v. United States | 749 (1929) | McReynolds | none | none | multiple | |
| Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company v. United States | 768 (1929) | Brandeis | none | none | affirmed | |
| Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company v. United States | 781 (1929) | Butler | none | none | reversed | |
| Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company v. Driggers | 787 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | reversed | |
| Maryland Casualty Company v. Jones | 792 (1929) | Sanford | none | none | reversed | |
| Kirk v. Maumee Valley Electric Company | 797 (1929) | Stone | none | none | reversed | |
| Kirk v. Providence Mill Company | 807 (1929) | Stone | none | none | reversed | |
| Ohio Oil Company v. Conway | 813 (1929) | per curiam | none | none | vacated | |