# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 297

This is a list of cases reported in volume 297 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1936.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 297 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 297 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| 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 | February 13, 1930 (52–26) | February 24, 1930 – June 30, 1941 (Retired) |
| Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
| 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) |
| George Sutherland | Associate Justice | Utah | John Hessin Clarke | September 5, 1922 (Acclamation) | October 2, 1922 – January 17, 1938 (Retired) |
| Pierce Butler | Associate Justice | Minnesota | William R. Day | December 21, 1922 (61–8) | January 2, 1923 – November 16, 1939 (Died) |
| Harlan F. Stone | Associate Justice | New York | Joseph McKenna | February 5, 1925 (71–6) | March 2, 1925 – July 2, 1941 (Continued as chief justice) |
| Owen Roberts | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Edward Terry Sanford | May 20, 1930 (Acclamation) | June 2, 1930 – July 31, 1945 (Resigned) |
| Benjamin N. Cardozo | Associate Justice | New York | Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | February 24, 1932 (Acclamation) | March 14, 1932 – July 9, 1938 (Died) |

## Notable Cases in 297 U.S.
### United States v. Butler

In United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1 (1936), the Supreme Court held that the U.S. Congress has not only the power to lay taxes to the level necessary to carry out its other powers enumerated in Article I of the U.S. Constitution but also a broad authority to tax and spend for the "general welfare" of the United States. The decision itself concerned whether the processing taxes instituted by the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act were constitutional.

### Brown v. Mississippi

In Brown v. Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278 (1936), the Supreme Court ruled that a defendant's involuntary confession that is extracted by the use of force on the part of law enforcement cannot be entered as evidence and violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In a unanimous decision, the Court reversed the convictions of the African-American defendants. The Court held that a defendant's confession extracted by police torture cannot be entered as evidence, and violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The prosecutor at the trial level, John Stennis, was not hurt politically by his prosecutions based on torture-extracted confessions; to the contrary, the voters of Mississippi elected him to office thirteen times, and he never lost an election.

### Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority

Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 (1936), is a Supreme Court case that provided the first elaboration of the doctrine of "Constitutional avoidance".

## Federal court system

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.

## List of cases in volume 297 U.S.

| Case name | Citation | Opinion of the Court | Vote | Concurring opinion or statement | Dissenting opinion or statement | Procedural jurisdiction | Result |
| United States v. Butler | 297 U.S. 1 (1936) | Roberts | 6-3 | none | Stone (opinion; joined by Brandeis and Cardozo) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| United States v. Safety Car Heating and Lighting Company | 297 U.S. 88 (1936) | Cardozo | 6-3 | none | Sutherland, Butler, and Roberts (joint short statement) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgments reversed |
| Moor v. Texas and New Orleans Railroad Company | 297 U.S. 101 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | writ of certiorari dismissed as improvidently granted |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Salvage | 297 U.S. 106 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed, and cause remanded |
| Rickert Rice Mills, Inc. v. Fontenot | 297 U.S. 110 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | decree vacated |
| Van der Weyde v. Ocean Transport Company, Ltd. | 297 U.S. 114 (1936) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| Violet Trapping Company, Inc. v. Grace | 297 U.S. 119 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Louisiana Supreme Court (La.) | judgment affirmed |
| Tyson v. United States | 297 U.S. 121 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Gooch v. United States | 297 U.S. 124 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (10th Cir.) | certified questions answered |
| Manhattan General Equipment Company v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 297 U.S. 129 (1936) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Great Northern Railroad Company v. Weeks | 297 U.S. 135 (1936) | Butler | 6-3 | none | Stone (opinion; joined by Brandeis and Cardozo) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (8th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| United States v. Atkinson | 297 U.S. 157 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Meyer v. Kenmore Granville Hotel Company | 297 U.S. 160 (1936) | Stone | 8-0[a] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Dismuke v. United States | 297 U.S. 167 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| United States v. California | 297 U.S. 175 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Treigle v. Acme Homestead Association | 297 U.S. 189 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Louisiana Supreme Court (La.) | judgment reversed |
| Prudence Company, Inc. v. Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland | 297 U.S. 198 (1936) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed as modified |
| Baltimore National Bank v. State Tax Commission of Maryland | 297 U.S. 209 (1936) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Maryland Court of Appeals (Md.) | judgment affirmed |
| Duparquet Huot and Moneuse Company v. Evans | 297 U.S. 216 (1936) | Cardozo | 8-0[a] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Tuttle v. Harris | 297 U.S. 225 (1936) | Cardozo | 8-0[a] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Palmer Clay Products Company v. Brown | 297 U.S. 227 (1936) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Boston Municipal Court (Boston Mun. Ct.) | judgment affirmed |
| Bronx Brass Foundry, Inc. v. Irving Trust Company | 297 U.S. 230 (1936) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Grosjean, Supervisor of Public Accounts of Louisiana v. American Press Company | 297 U.S. 233 (1936) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (E.D. La.) | decree affirmed |
| Borden's Farm Products Company, Inc. v. Ten Eyck, Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets of New York | 297 U.S. 251 (1936) | Roberts | 5-4 | none | McReynolds (opinion; joined by VanDevanter, Sutherland, and Butler) | appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.) | decree affirmed |
| Mayflower Farms, Inc. v. Ten Eyck, Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets of New York | 297 U.S. 266 (1936) | Roberts | 6-3 | none | Cardozo (opinion; joined by Brandeis and Stone) | appeal from the New York Supreme Court (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Brown v. Mississippi | 297 U.S. 278 (1936) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Mississippi Supreme Court (Miss.) | judgment reversed |
| Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority | 297 U.S. 288 (1936) | Hughes | 8-1 | Brandeis (opinion; joined by Stone, Roberts, and Cardozo) | McReynolds | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| City of Lincoln v. Ricketts | 297 U.S. 373 (1936) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (8th Cir.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| Ingraham v. Hanson | 297 U.S. 378 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Utah Supreme Court (Utah) | judgment affirmed |
| Gulf Refining Company v. Fox, Tax Commissioner of West Virginia | 297 U.S. 381 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (S.D.W. Va.) | judgments affirmed |
| United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation v. Rhodes | 297 U.S. 383 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Wine Railway Appliance Company v. Enterprise Railway Equipment Company | 297 U.S. 387 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| S.R. Company v. Lunsford | 297 U.S. 398 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Georgia Court of Appeals (Ga. Ct. App.) | judgment reversed |
| Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company v. Tax Commission of Washington | 297 U.S. 403 (1936) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Washington Supreme Court (Wash.) | judgment affirmed |
| Leahy v. State Treasurer of Oklahoma | 297 U.S. 420 (1936) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Oklahoma Supreme Court (Okla.) | judgment affirmed |
| Bayside Fish Flour Company v. Gentry | 297 U.S. 422 (1936) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (N.D. Cal.) | decree affirmed |
| Whitfield v. Ohio | 297 U.S. 431 (1936) | Sutherland | 9-0 | VanDevanter, McReynolds, and Stone (without opinions) | none | certiorari to the Ohio Supreme Court (Ohio) | judgment affirmed |
| Matson Navigation Company v. State Board of Equalization of California | 297 U.S. 441 (1936) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the California Supreme Court (Cal.) | judgment affirmed |
| Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Illinois Brick Company | 297 U.S. 447 (1936) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Illinois Appellate Court (Ill. App. Ct.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Callaghan v. Reconstruction Finance Corporation | 297 U.S. 464 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Northwestern Bell Telephone Company v. Nebraska Railway Commission | 297 U.S. 471 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Nebraska Supreme Court (Neb.) | judgment affirmed |
| Noble v. Oklahoma City | 297 U.S. 481 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Oklahoma Supreme Court (Okla.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. San Joaquin Fruit and Investment Company | 297 U.S. 496 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Terminal Warehouse Company v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company | 297 U.S. 500 (1936) | Cardozo | 8-0[b] | McReynolds (without opinion) | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Washington v. Oregon | 297 U.S. 517 (1936) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States (original) | complaint dismissed |
| United States v. Rizzo | 297 U.S. 530 (1936) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | order reversed |
| Wright v. Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company | 297 U.S. 537 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Kentucky Court of Appeals (Ky.) | judgment affirmed |
| Great Western Power Company of California v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 297 U.S. 543 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Sugar Institute, Inc. v. United States | 297 U.S. 553 (1936) | Hughes | 7-0[c][d] | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.) | decree affirmed as modified |
| McCaughn v. Real Estate Land Title and Trust Company | 297 U.S. 606 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Chandler v. Peketz | 297 U.S. 609 (1936) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Colorado Supreme Court (Colo.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Commonwealth Trust Company of Pittsburgh v. Bradford | 297 U.S. 613 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Georgia Railway and Electric Company v. City of Decatur | 297 U.S. 620 (1936) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Georgia Supreme Court (Ga.) | decree affirmed |
| Bingaman, Commissioner of Revenue v. Golden Eagle Western Lines, Inc. | 297 U.S. 626 (1936) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.N.M.) | decree affirmed |
| Phillips Petroleum Company v. Jenkins | 297 U.S. 629 (1936) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Arkansas Supreme Court (Ark.) | judgment affirmed |
| Triplett v. Lowell | 297 U.S. 638 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Cir.) | decree affirmed; certified question dismissed |
| Fisher's Blend Station, Inc. v. Tax Commission of Washington | 297 U.S. 650 (1936) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Washington Supreme Court (Wash.) | judgment affirmed |
| International Steel and Iron Company v. National Surety Company | 297 U.S. 657 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Tennessee Supreme Court (Tenn.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Asiatic Petroleum Company v. Insular Collector of Customs | 297 U.S. 666 (1936) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Supreme Court of the Philippines (Phil.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| New York Life Insurance Company v. Viglas | 297 U.S. 672 (1936) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Norfolk and Western Railroad Company v. North Carolina ex rel. Maxwell, Commissioner of Revenue | 297 U.S. 682 (1936) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the North Carolina Supreme Court (N.C.) | judgment affirmed |
    [a] VanDevanter took no part in the case
    [b] Roberts took no part in the case
    [c] Sutherland took no part in the case
    [d] Stone took no part in the case