# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 252

This is a list of cases reported in volume 252 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 252 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 252 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 252 U.S.
### Missouri v. Holland

In Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416 (1920), the Supreme Court considered the extent to which international legal obligations are incorporated into federal law. The case centered on the constitutionality of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibited the killing, capturing, and selling of certain migratory birds pursuant to an earlier treaty between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The state of Missouri challenged enforcement of the Act within its jurisdiction, arguing that the regulation of game was not expressly delegated by the U.S. Constitution to the federal government, and was therefore reserved for the states under the Tenth Amendment. The Court upheld the Act as a valid exercise of the federal government's treaty power, with the supremacy clause of the Constitution elevating treaties above state law.

## 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 252 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Jett Brothers Distilling Company v. Carrollton | 1 (1920) | Day | none | none | Ky. | dismissed |
| Farncomb v. City and County of Denver | 7 (1920) | Day | none | none | Colo. | affirmed |
| Goldsmith v. George G. Prendergast Construction Company | 12 (1920) | Day | none | none | Mo. | affirmed |
| Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company v. Ward | 18 (1920) | Day | none | none | Okla. | affirmed |
| Pennsylvania Gas Company v. Public Service Commission of New York | 23 (1920) | Day | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Tiffany | 32 (1920) | Day | none | none | D.N.J. | mandamus denied |
| Shaffer v. Carter | 37 (1920) | Pitney | none | none | E.D. Okla. | multiple |
| Travis v. Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company | 60 (1920) | Pitney | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Chesbrough v. Northern Trust Company | 83 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | 6th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. A. Schrader's Son, Inc. | 85 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | N.D. Ohio | reversed |
| Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company v. Wisconsin ex rel. City of Milwaukee | 100 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Wis. | affirmed |
| McCloskey v. Tobin | 107 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Tex. Crim. App. | affirmed |
| Lee v. Central of Georgia Railroad Company | 109 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Ga. Ct. App. | affirmed |
| Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company v. United States | 112 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Chapman v. Wintroath | 126 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | D.C. Cir. | reversed |
| National Lead Company v. United States | 140 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Kansas City Southern Railway Company v. United States | 147 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| New York Central Railroad Company v. Mohney | 152 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | Ohio Dist. Ct. App. | affirmed |
| Ash Sheep Company v. United States | 159 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Gayon v. McCarthy | 171 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| United States ex rel. Kansas City Southern Railway Company v. Interstate Commerce Commission | 178 (1920) | White | none | none | D.C. Cir. | reversed |
| Eisner v. Macomber | 189 (1920) | Pitney | none | Holmes; Brandeis | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Pierce v. United States | 239 (1920) | Pitney | none | Brandeis | N.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Minnesota v. Wisconsin | 273 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | original | state boundary set |
| Cole v. Ralph | 286 (1920) | VanDevanter | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Panama Railroad Company v. Toppin | 308 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| The Atlanten | 313 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Manners v. Morosco | 317 (1920) | Holmes | none | Clarke | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Oklahoma Operating Company v. Love | 331 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | W.D. Okla. | reversed |
| Oklahoma Gin Company v. Oklahoma | 339 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Okla. | reversed |
| Hiawassee River Power Company v. Carolina-Tennessee Power Company | 341 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | N.C. | dismissed |
| Strathearn Steamship Company, Ltd. v. Dillon | 348 (1920) | Day | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Thompson v. Lucas | 358 (1920) | Day | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Collins v. Miller | 364 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | E.D. La. | dismissed |
| Caldwell v. Parker | 376 (1920) | White | none | none | N.D. Ala. | affirmed |
| Cuyahoga River Power Company v. Northern Ohio Traction and Light Company | 388 (1920) | McKenna | none | none | N.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| South Covington and Cincinnati Street Railway Company v. Kentucky | 399 (1920) | McKenna | none | Day | Ky. | affirmed |
| Cincinnati, Covington and Erlanger Railway Company v. Kentucky | 408 (1920) | McKenna | none | Day | Ky. | affirmed |
| Kenney v. Supreme Lodge of the World, Loyal Order of Moose | 411 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | Ill. | reversed |
| Missouri v. Holland | 416 (1920) | Holmes | none | none | W.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Blumenstock Brothers Advertising Agency v. Curtis Publishing Company | 436 (1920) | Day | none | none | N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Askren v. Continental Oil Company | 444 (1920) | Day | none | none | D.N.M. | affirmed |
| Cameron v. United States | 450 (1920) | VanDevanter | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Simpson | 465 (1920) | VanDevanter | none | Clarke | D. Colo. | reversed |
| Houston v. Ormes | 469 (1920) | Pitney | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Hull v. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company | 475 (1920) | Pitney | none | Clarke | Md. | affirmed |
| United States v. Chase National Bank | 485 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Boehmer v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company | 496 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Munday v. Wisconsin Trust Company | 499 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | Wis. | affirmed |
| First National Bank v. Williams | 504 (1920) | McReynolds | none | none | M.D. Pa. | reversed |
| Burnap v. United States | 512 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Oneida Navigation Corporation v. Job and Company, Inc. | 521 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | dismissed |
| Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Lederer | 523 (1920) | Brandeis | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Estate of P.D. Beckwith, Inc. v. Commissioner of Patents | 538 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | D.C. Cir. | reversed |
| Simpson v. United States | 547 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Canadian National Railway Company v. Eggen | 553 (1920) | Clarke | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |