# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 272

This is a list of cases reported in volume 272 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1926 and 1927.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 272 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 272 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) |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) | December 8, 1902 – January 12, 1932 (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) |
| Edward Terry Sanford | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Mahlon Pitney | January 29, 1923 (Acclamation) | February 19, 1923 – March 8, 1930 (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) |

## Notable Cases in 272 U.S.
### Myers v. United States

In Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926), the Supreme Court held that the President has the exclusive power to remove executive branch officials, and does not need the approval of the Senate or any other legislative body. It was distinguished in 1935 by Humphrey's Executor v. United States. In Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2020), however, the Supreme Court interpreted Myers as establishing that the President generally has unencumbered removal power. Myers was the first Supreme Court case to address the President's removal powers.

### Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.

Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926), is a landmark Supreme Court decision approving the power of local government to establish rules of zoning. The Court's ruling that local ordinance zoning is a valid exercise of the police power bolstered zoning in the United States and influenced other countries. At the time of Euclid, zoning was a relatively new concept, and there had been complaints that it was an unreasonable intrusion into private property rights for a government to restrict how an owner might use property. The Court, in holding that there was valid government interest in maintaining the character of a neighborhood and in regulating where certain land uses should occur, allowed for the subsequent explosion in zoning ordinances across the country. The Court has never heard a case seeking to overturn Euclid. Today most local governments in the United States have zoning ordinances.

### Lambert v. Yellowley

In Lambert v. Yellowley, 272 U.S. 581 (1926), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the National Prohibition Act's limitation on the dispensation of alcoholic medicines. The Court affirmed dismissal of a suit in which New York City physician Samuel Lambert sought to prevent Edward Yellowley, the acting federal prohibition director, from enforcing the Prohibition Act so as to preclude Lambert from prescribing alcoholic medicines. The decision strengthened the police powers of the individual states, and clarified the Necessary and Proper Clause of the United States Constitution, which was cited in upholding the Prohibition Act's limitations as a necessary and proper implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

## 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 272 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| United States v. Chemical Foundation, Inc. | 1 (1926) | Butler | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Oklahoma v. Texas | 21 (1926) | Sanford | none | none | original | boundary set |
| International Stevedoring Company v. Haverty | 50 (1926) | Holmes | none | none | Wash. | affirmed |
| Myers v. United States | 52 (1926) | Taft | none | Holmes; McReynolds; Brandeis | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Palmetto Fire Insurance Company v. Conn | 295 (1926) | Holmes | none | none | S.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| Dorchy v. Kansas | 306 (1926) | Brandeis | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| Hebert v. Louisiana | 312 (1926) | VanDevanter | none | none | La. | affirmed |
| Moore v. Fidelity and Deposit Company | 317 (1926) | Brandeis | none | none | D. Or. | dismissed |
| United States v. One Ford Coupe Automobile | 321 (1926) | Brandeis | Stone | Butler | 5th Cir. | reversed |
| Yankton Sioux Tribe of Indians v. United States | 351 (1926) | Sutherland | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Anderson v. Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast | 359 (1926) | Sutherland | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Company | 365 (1926) | Sutherland | none | none | N.D. Ohio | reversed |
| Michigan v. Wisconsin | 398 (1926) | Sutherland | none | none | original | boundary set |
| McCardle v. Indianapolis Water Company | 400 (1926) | Butler | none | Brandeis | D. Ind. | affirmed |
| Graves v. Minnesota | 425 (1926) | Sanford | none | none | Minn. | affirmed |
| I.T.S. Rubber Company v. Essex Rubber Company | 429 (1926) | Sanford | none | none | 1st Cir. | affirmed |
| Southern Pacific Company v. United States | 445 (1926) | Stone | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Brasfield v. United States | 448 (1926) | Stone | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Hudson v. United States | 451 (1926) | Stone | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. New York Central Railroad Company | 457 (1926) | Stone | none | none | N.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Van Oster v. Kansas | 465 (1926) | Stone | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| Hughes Brothers Timber Company v. Minnesota | 469 (1926) | Taft | none | none | Minn. | reversed |
| United States v. General Electric Company | 476 (1926) | Taft | none | none | N.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| Hanover Fire Insurance Company v. Harding | 494 (1926) | Taft | none | none | Ill. | reversed |
| Deutsche Bank Filiale Nurnberg v. Humphrey | 517 (1926) | Holmes | none | Sutherland | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Massachusetts State Grange v. Benton | 525 (1926) | Holmes | none | McReynolds | D. Mass. | affirmed |
| Dodge v. United States | 530 (1926) | Holmes | none | none | 1st Cir. | affirmed |
| Luckenbach Steamship Company v. United States | 533 (1926) | VanDevanter | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Salinger v. United States | 542 (1926) | VanDevanter | none | none | D.S.D. | transfer to 8th Cir. |
| United States v. Brims | 549 (1926) | McReynolds | none | none | 7th Cir. | reversed |
| Federal Trade Commission v. Western Meat Company | 554 (1926) | McReynolds | none | Brandeis | 7th Cir. | multiple |
| Port Gardner Investment Company v. United States | 564 (1926) | Brandeis | Butler | none | 9th Cir. | certification |
| Wachovia Bank and Trust Company v. Doughton | 567 (1926) | McReynolds | none | Holmes | N.C. | reversed |
| Ottinger, Attorney General of New York v. Consolidated Gas Company of New York | 576 (1926) | McReynolds | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Ottinger, Attorney General of New York v. Brooklyn Union Gas Company | 579 (1926) | McReynolds | none | none | E.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Lambert v. Yellowley | 581 (1926) | Brandeis | none | Sutherland | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company | 605 (1926) | Brandeis | none | none | N.D. Ga. | multiple |
| Duffy v. Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company | 613 (1926) | Sutherland | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Fasulo v. United States | 620 (1926) | Butler | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Murphy v. United States | 630 (1926) | Holmes | none | none | 3d Cir. | certification |
| United States v. McElvain | 633 (1926) | Butler | none | none | N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Wright v. Ynchausti and Company | 640 (1926) | Taft | none | none | Phil. | affirmed |
| United States v. Storrs | 652 (1926) | Holmes | none | none | D. Utah | dismissed |
| Dysart v. United States | 655 (1926) | McReynolds | none | none | 5th Cir. | reversed |
| Virginian Railway Company v. United States | 658 (1926) | Brandeis | none | none | S.D.W. Va. | multiple |
| Eastern Transportation Company v. United States | 675 (1927) | Taft | none | none | W.D. Va. | reversed |
| Postum Cereal Company v. California Fig Nut Company | 693 (1927) | Taft | none | none | D.C. Cir. | dismissed |
| Los Angeles Brush Manufacturing Corporation v. James | 701 (1927) | Taft | none | none | S.D. Cal. | mandamus denied |
| Emmons Coal Mining Company v. Norfolk and Western Railroad Company | 709 (1927) | Holmes | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Miller v. City of Milwaukee | 713 (1927) | Holmes | Brandeis | none | E.D. Wis. | reversed |
| Steamship Willdomino v. Citro Chemical Company | 718 (1927) | McReynolds | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Garland's Heirs v. Choctaw Nation | 728 (1927) | McReynolds | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| De la Mettrie v. De Gasquet James | 731 (1927) | McReynolds | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Gettinger and Pomerantz | 734 (1927) | McReynolds | none | none | N.D.N.Y. | reversed |