# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 253

This is a list of cases reported in volume 253 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1920.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 253 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). 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 253 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Edward Douglass White | Chief Justice | Louisiana | Melville Fuller | December 12, 1910 (Acclamation) | December 19, 1910 – May 19, 1921 (Died) |
| Joseph McKenna | Associate Justice | California | Stephen Johnson Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) | January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 (Retired) |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) | December 8, 1902 – January 12, 1932 (Retired) |
| William R. Day | Associate Justice | Ohio | George Shiras Jr. | February 23, 1903 (Acclamation) | March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 (Retired) |
| Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
| Mahlon Pitney | Associate Justice | New Jersey | John Marshall Harlan | March 13, 1912 (50–26) | March 18, 1912 – December 31, 1922 (Resigned) |
| 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) |
| John Hessin Clarke | Associate Justice | Ohio | Charles Evans Hughes | July 24, 1916 (Acclamation) | October 9, 1916 – September 18, 1922 (Retired) |

## Notable Case in 253 U.S.
### Hawke v. Smith

Hawke v. Smith, 253 U.S. 221 (1920), was a challenge to the constitutionality of a state referendum to overturn the Ohio legislature's vote to adopt the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (the "Prohibition Amendment"). The Supreme Court held that while states may allow their legislatures' actions to be reversed through popular votes, that did not apply to the adoption of federal constitutional amendments since that power was granted to the legislatures by the United States Constitution, and the Constitution did not provide for any role to be played by the people in the consideration of amendments.

## 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.
* "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals
** e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
* "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . .
** e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
* "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western
** e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
* "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
* The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time.
** e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
** e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

## List of cases in volume 253 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| United States v. Atlanta Dredging Company | 1 (1920) | McKenna | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Maguire v. Trefry | 12 (1920) | Day | none | none | Mass. Super. Ct. | affirmed |
| Ward v. Love County | 17 (1920) | VanDevanter | none | none | Oklahoma | reversed |
| Broadwell v. Carter County | 25 (1920) | VanDevanter | none | none | Okla. | reversed |
| United States v. Reading Company | 26 (1920) | Clarke | none | White | E.D. Pa. | multiple |
| Wallace v. Hines | 66 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | D.N.D. | affirmed |
| Great Northern Railroad Company v. Cahill | 71 (1920) | White | none | none | S.D. | reversed |
| Erie Railroad Company v. Collins | 77 (1920) | McKenna | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Erie Railroad Company v. Szary | 86 (1920) | McKenna | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| White v. Chin Fong | 90 (1920) | McKenna | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Leary v. United States | 94 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | 4th Cir. | affirmed |
| Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company v. McCaull-Dinsmore Company | 97 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Western Union Telegraph Company v. Brown | 101 (1920) | Day | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| United States v. Alaska Steamship Co. | 113 (1920) | Day | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Spiller v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company | 117 (1920) | Pitney | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| Meccano, Ltd. v. John Wanamaker, New York | 136 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| O'Connell v. United States | 142 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | N.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Knickerbocker Ice Company v. Stewart | 149 (1920) | McReynolds | none | Holmes | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | reversed |
| Calhoun v. Massie | 170 (1920) | Brandeis | none | McReynolds | Va. | affirmed |
| Newman v. Moyers | 182 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | D.C. Cir. | multiple |
| Bliss Company v. United States | 187 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Piedmont Power and Light Company v. Town of Graham | 193 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | W.D.N.C. | dismissed |
| United States v. MacMillan | 195 (1920) | White | none | none | 7th Cir. | affirmed |
| Fort Smith and Western Railroad Company v. Mills | 206 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | W.D. Ark. | reversed |
| United States ex rel. Johnson v. Payne | 209 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Fidelity Title and Trust Company v. Dubois Electric Company | 212 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | 3d Cir. | reversed |
| LeCrone v. McAdoo | 217 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | D.C. Cir. | dismissed |
| City of New York v. Consolidated Gas Company of New York | 219 (1920) | Day | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Hawke v. Smith I | 221 (1920) | Day | none | none | Ohio | reversed |
| Hawke v. Smith II | 231 (1920) | Day | none | none | Ohio | reversed |
| Green v. Frazier | 233 (1920) | Day | none | none | N.D. | affirmed |
| Scott v. Frazier | 243 (1920) | Day | none | none | D.N.D. | reversed |
| Evans v. Gore | 245 (1920) | VanDevanter | none | Holmes | W.D. Ky. | reversed |
| Weidhorn v. Levy | 268 (1920) | Pitney | none | none | 1st Cir. | reversed |
| United States v. Omaha Tribe | 275 (1920) | Pitney | none | none | Ct. Cl. | multiple |
| Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company v. Hancock | 284 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | Pa. | reversed |
| Ohio Valley Water Company v. Ben Avon Borough | 287 (1920) | McReynolds | none | Brandeis | Pa. | reversed |
| Ex parte Peterson | 300 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | mandamus denied |
| Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Kittanning Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company | 319 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Pa. | reversed |
| Cream of Wheat Company v. Grand Forks County | 325 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | N.D. | affirmed |
| United States v. North American Transportation and Trading Company | 330 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Stallings v. Splain | 339 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Porto Rico (sic) Railway, Light and Power Company v. Mor | 345 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | 1st Cir. | certification |
| National Prohibition Cases | 350 (1920) | VanDevanter | White; McReynolds | McKenna; Clarke | multiple | various |
| Royster Guano Company v. Virginia | 412 (1920) | Pitney | none | Brandeis | Va. | reversed |
| Federal Trade Commission v. Gratz | 421 (1920) | McReynolds | none | Brandeis | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Nadeau v. Union Pacific Railroad Company | 442 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | D. Kan. | affirmed |
| Beidler v. United States | 447 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Kwock Jan Fat v. White | 454 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |