# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 257

This is a list of cases reported in volume 257 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1921 and 1922.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 257 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 257 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| 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) |
| 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) |

## 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 257 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Smietanka v. Indiana Steel Company | 1 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | 7th Cir. | certification |
| Ex parte Lincoln Gas and Electric Light Company | 6 (1921) | Pitney | none | none | D. Neb. | rehearing denied |
| Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Company v. Clarksdale | 10 (1921) | Taft | none | none | Miss. | reversed |
| Hildreth v. Mastoras | 27 (1921) | Taft | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| United States v. Sacks | 37 (1921) | McKenna | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| United States v. Janowitz | 42 (1921) | McKenna | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Marine Railway and Coal Company v. United States | 47 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Springfield Gas and Electric Company v. City of Springfield | 66 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | Ill. | affirmed |
| Nicholas v. United States | 71 (1921) | Day | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Norris v. United States | 77 (1921) | Day | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Eberlein v. United States | 82 (1921) | Day | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Weber | 85 (1921) | Day | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Wilson v. Republic Iron and Steel Company | 92 (1921) | VanDevanter | none | none | N.D. Ala. | affirmed |
| Citizens National Bank v. Durr | 99 (1921) | Pitney | none | Holmes | Ohio | affirmed |
| Alabama and Vicksburg Railway Company v. Journey | 111 (1921) | Brandeis | none | none | Miss. | reversed |
| Louisiana and Pine Bluff Railway Company v. United States | 114 (1921) | Brandeis | none | none | W.D. Ark. | affirmed |
| Breiholz v. Pocahontas County | 118 (1921) | Clarke | none | none | Iowa | affirmed |
| Hunt v. United States | 125 (1921) | Clarke | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Crescent Cotton Oil Company v. Mississippi | 129 (1921) | Clarke | none | none | Miss. | affirmed |
| J. Horstmann Company v. United States | 138 (1921) | McKenna | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Kern River Company v. United States | 147 (1921) | VanDevanter | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Phellis | 156 (1921) | Pitney | none | McReynolds | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Rockefeller v. United States | 176 (1921) | Pitney | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| American Steel Foundries v. Tri-City Central Trades Council | 184 (1921) | Taft | none | none | 7th Cir. | multiple |
| Robert Mitchell Furniture Company v. Selden Breck Construction Company | 213 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | S.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| North Pacific Steamship Company v. Soley | 216 (1921) | Day | none | none | N.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Hurley v. Virginia Commission of Fisheries | 223 (1921) | McReynolds | none | none | E.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Rafferty v. Smith, Bell and Company, Ltd. | 226 (1921) | McReynolds | none | none | Phil. | reversed |
| Western Fuel Company v. Garcia | 233 (1921) | McReynolds | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Kahn v. United States | 244 (1921) | Brandeis | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Central Railroad Company of New Jersey v. United States | 247 (1921) | Brandeis | none | none | D.N.J. | reversed |
| Curtis v. Connly | 260 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | 1st Cir. | affirmed |
| Eureka Pipe Line Company v. Hallanan | 265 (1921) | Holmes | none | Clarke | W. Va. | reversed |
| United Fuel Gas Company v. Hallahan | 277 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | W. Va. | reversed |
| Danke-Walker Milling Company v. Bondurant | 282 (1921) | VanDevanter | none | Brandeis | Ky. | reversed |
| Miller v. American Bonding Company | 304 (1921) | VanDevanter | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Truax v. Corrigan | 312 (1921) | Taft | none | Holmes; Pitney; Brandeis | Ariz. | reversed |
| American Column and Lumber Company v. United States | 377 (1921) | Clarke | none | Holmes; Brandeis | W.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| The Western Maid | 419 (1921) | Holmes | none | McKenna | multiple | prohibition granted |
| Federal Trade Commission v. Beech-Nut Packing Company | 441 (1921) | Day | none | Holmes; McReynolds | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Southern Pacific Railroad Company v. Fall | 460 (1921) | VanDevanter | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Cunningham v. Rodgers | 466 (1921) | McReynolds | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Grant Smith-Porter Ship Company v. Rohde | 469 (1921) | McReynolds | none | none | 9th Cir. | certification |
| Davis v. Wallace | 478 (1921) | VanDevanter | none | none | D.N.D. | reversed |
| North Dakota ex rel. Lemke v. Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company | 485 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | original | dismissed |
| Corneli v. Moore | 491 (1921) | McKenna | none | McReynolds | W.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Gillespie v. Oklahoma | 501 (1921) | Holmes | none | none | Okla. | reversed |
| International Railroad Company v. Davidson | 506 (1921) | Brandeis | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Georgia v. South Carolina | 516 (1921) | Clarke | none | none | original | boundary set |
| United States v. Cook | 523 (1921) | Taft | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Terral v. Burke Construction Company | 529 (1921) | Taft | none | none | E.D. Ark. | affirmed |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Clarendon Boat Oar Company, Inc. | 533 (1921) | Taft | none | none | La. Ct. App. | dismissed |
| United States v. M. Rice and Company | 536 (1921) | Taft | none | none | Ct. Cust. App. | affirmed |
| Wallace v. United States | 541 (1921) | Taft | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Commissioners of Road Improvement District No. 2 of Lafayette County, Arkansas v. St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company | 547 (1921) | Taft | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Wisconsin Railroad Commission v. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company | 563 (1921) | Taft | none | none | E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| New York v. United States | 591 (1921) | Taft | none | none | N.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Smietanka v. First Trust and Savings Bank | 602 (1921) | Taft | none | none | 7th Cir. | affirmed |