# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 302

This is a list of cases reported in volume 302 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1937 and 1938.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 302 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 302 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) |
| 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) |
| Hugo Black | Associate Justice | Alabama | Willis Van Devanter | August 17, 1937 (63–16) | August 19, 1937 – September 17, 1971 (Retired) |

## Notable Cases in 302 U.S.
### Bogardus v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

In Bogardus v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 302 U.S. 34 (1937), the Supreme Court held that a distribution of money by a corporation to the company's past and present employees who had no current ties with the corporation, in recognition of their past service, was a non-taxable gift and not "compensation for personal services".

### James, State Tax Commissioner v. Dravo Contracting Company

In James, State Tax Commissioner v. Dravo Contracting Company, 302 U.S. 134 (1937), the Supreme Court held that a state's corporate income tax did not violate the Supremacy Clause (Article Six, Clause 2) of the United States Constitution by taxing the Federal government of the United States. It was the first time the Court had upheld a tax on the federal government. The decision is considered a landmark in the field of federal tax immunity, underpins modern legal interpretations of the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution, and established the "legal incidence test" for tax cases.

### Puerto Rico v. Shell Company (P.R.), Ltd.

Puerto Rico v. Shell Company (P.R.), Ltd., 302 U.S. 253 (1937), is a notable Supreme Court of the United States case. The issue was whether a local ("insular") law could be pre-empted by the Commerce clause of the United States Constitution. It was also notable as being one of the first cases that determined that Puerto Rico can be treated as if a state for some purposes under the law. It has become a precedent for similar cases.

### Palko v. Connecticut

Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 (1937) involved a murder conviction. Palko had been charged with first-degree murder but was instead convicted of the lesser offense of second-degree murder and was given a sentence of life imprisonment. Prosecutors appealed per Connecticut law and won a new trial in which Palko was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Palko then appealed, arguing that the Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy applied to state governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court had previously held, in the Slaughterhouse cases, that the protections of the Bill of Rights should not be applied to the states under the Privileges or Immunities clause, but Palko argued that since the infringed right fell under a due process protection, Connecticut still acted in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause protected only those rights that were "of the very essence of a scheme of ordered liberty" and that the court should therefore incorporate the Bill of Rights onto the states gradually, as justiciable violations arose, based on whether the infringed right met that test. Applying the subjective case-by-case approach (known as selective incorporation), the Court upheld Palko's conviction on the basis that the double jeopardy appeal was not "essential to a fundamental scheme of ordered liberty." In 1969 the Court overruled Palko by incorporating the protection against double jeopardy with its ruling in Benton v. Maryland.

### Leitch Manufacturing Company v. Barber Company

In Leitch Manufacturing Company v. Barber Company, 302 U.S. 458 (1938), the Supreme Court extended the tie-in patent misuse doctrine to cases in which the patentee does not use an explicit tie-in license but instead relies on grants of implied licenses to only those who buy a necessary supply from it.

## 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 302 U.S.

| Case name | Citation | Opinion of the Court | Vote | Concurring opinion or statement | Dissenting opinion or statement | Procedural jurisdiction | Result |
| Kelly v. Washington ex rel. Foss Company | 302 U.S. 1 (1937) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Washington Supreme Court (Wash.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| White v. Aronson | 302 U.S. 16 (1937) | McReynolds | 9-0 | Stone and Cardozo (without opinions) | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Atlantic Refining Company v. Virginia | 302 U.S. 22 (1937) | Brandeis | 8-0[a] | none | none | appeal from the Virginia Supreme Court (Va.) | judgment affirmed |
| Bogardus v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 302 U.S. 34 (1937) | Sutherland | 5-4 | none | Brandeis, Stone, Cardozo, and Black (joint opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| United States v. Williams | 302 U.S. 46 (1937) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Pennsylvania ex rel. Sullivan v. Ashe | 302 U.S. 51 (1937) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Pa.) | judgment affirmed |
| McEachern v. Rose | 302 U.S. 56 (1937) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Palmer v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 302 U.S. 63 (1937) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Dodge v. Chicago Board of Education | 302 U.S. 74 (1937) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Illinois Supreme Court (Ill.) | judgment affirmed |
| Groman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 302 U.S. 82 (1937) | Roberts | 8-0[b] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Puget Sound Stevedoring Company v. State Tax Commission of Washington | 302 U.S. 90 (1937) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Washington Supreme Court (Wash.) | decree modified, and cause remanded |
| Hale v. Board of Assessment and Review of Iowa | 302 U.S. 95 (1937) | Cardozo | 6-3 | none | Sutherland (opinion; joined by McReynolds and Butler) | appeal from the Iowa Supreme Court (Iowa) | judgment affirmed |
| Federal Trade Commission v. Standard Education Society | 302 U.S. 112 (1937) | Black | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| Chicago Title and Trust Company v. 4136 Wilcox Building Corporation | 302 U.S. 120 (1937) | Sutherland | 6-3 | none | Cardozo (opinion; joined by Stone and Black) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | decree reversed |
| James, State Tax Commissioner v. Dravo Contracting Company | 302 U.S. 134 (1937) | Hughes | 5-4 | none | Roberts (opinion; joined by McReynolds, Sutherland, and Butler) | appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (S.D.W. Va.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| Silas Mason Company v. Tax Commission of Washington | 302 U.S. 186 (1937) | Hughes | 5-4 | none | Roberts (opinion at 302 U.S. 161 in James v. Dravo Contracting Company; joined by McReynolds, Sutherland, and Butler) | appeal from the Washington Supreme Court (Wash.) | judgments affirmed |
| Berman v. United States | 302 U.S. 211 (1937) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| United States v. Kapp | 302 U.S. 214 (1937) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (W.D. Okla.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Fleisher v. United States | 302 U.S. 218 (1937) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Cir.) | judgments reversed, and causes remanded |
| Forte v. United States | 302 U.S. 220 (1937) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Cir.) | certified questions answered |
| Fidelity and Deposit Company v. Pink, Superintendent of Insurance of New York | 302 U.S. 224 (1937) | McReynolds | 8-0[a] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Aluminum Company of America v. United States | 302 U.S. 230 (1937) | McReynolds | 7-0[a][c] | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (W.D. Pa.) | decree affirmed |
| Phillips-Jones Corporation v. Parmley | 302 U.S. 233 (1937) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Gowran | 302 U.S. 238 (1937) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Pfeiffer | 302 U.S. 247 (1937) | Brandeis | 7-2 | none | Stone and Cardozo (joint opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Puerto Rico v. Shell Company (P.R.), Ltd. | 302 U.S. 253 (1937) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Willing v. Binenstock | 302 U.S. 272 (1937) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| Breedlove v. Suttles | 302 U.S. 277 (1937) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Georgia Supreme Court (Ga.) | judgment affirmed |
| Texas v. Donoghue | 302 U.S. 284 (1937) | Butler | 7-2 | none | Cardozo (opinion; joined by Stone) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Worcester County Trust Company v. Riley, Controller of California | 302 U.S. 292 (1937) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Natural Gas Pipeline Company v. Slattery | 302 U.S. 300 (1937) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (N.D. Ill.) | judgment affirmed |
| Frad v. Kelly, U.S. Marshal | 302 U.S. 312 (1937) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Palko v. Connecticut | 302 U.S. 319 (1937) | Cardozo | 8-1 | none | Butler (without opinion) | appeal from the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut (Conn.) | judgment affirmed |
| Smyth v. United States | 302 U.S. 329 (1937) | Cardozo | 6-3 | Stone (opinion); Black (short statement) | McReynolds (opinion; joined by Sutherland and Butler) | certiorari to the United States Court of Claims (Ct. Cl.) | judgments affirmed (two cases); judgment reversed (one case) |
| McNair v. Knott, Treasurer of Florida | 302 U.S. 369 (1937) | Black | 9-0 | McReynolds (opinion) | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Honeyman v. Hanan | 302 U.S. 375 (1937) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the New York Supreme Court (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) | appeal dismissed |
| Nardone v. United States | 302 U.S. 379 (1937) | Roberts | 7-2 | none | Sutherland (opinion; joined by McReynolds) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Railroad Commission of California v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company | 302 U.S. 388 (1938) | Hughes | 6-2[d] | Black (without opinion) | Butler (opinion; joined by McReynolds) | appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (N.D. Cal.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| McCart v. Indianapolis Water Company | 302 U.S. 419 (1938) | per curiam | 7-1[e] | none | Black (opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | decree affirmed as modified |
| Standard Accident Insurance Company v. United States ex rel. Powell | 302 U.S. 442 (1938) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| United States ex rel. Willoughby v. Howard | 302 U.S. 445 (1938) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Bashford | 302 U.S. 454 (1938) | Brandeis | 5-3[f] | none | McReynolds, Sutherland, and Butler (without opinions) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Leitch Manufacturing Company v. Barber Company | 302 U.S. 458 (1938) | Brandeis | 8-0[e] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Alabama Power Company v. Ickes, Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works | 302 U.S. 464 (1938) | Sutherland | 9-0 | Black (without opinion) | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Cir.) | decrees affirmed |
| Duke Power Company v. Greenwood County | 302 U.S. 485 (1938) | Sutherland | 9-0 | Black (without opinion) | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Textile Machine Works v. Louis Hirsch Textile Machines, Inc. | 302 U.S. 490 (1938) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Christopher v. Brusselback | 302 U.S. 500 (1938) | Stone | 7-0[e][g] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Schuylkill Trust Company v. Pennsylvania | 302 U.S. 506 (1938) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Pa.) | judgment affirmed |
| United States v. Andrews | 302 U.S. 517 (1938) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Claims Ct. Cl.) | judgment reversed |
| United States v. Garbutt Oil Company | 302 U.S. 528 (1938) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| United States v. McGowan | 302 U.S. 535 (1938) | Black | 8-0[e] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| United States v. Raynor | 302 U.S. 540 (1938) | Black | 6-3 | none | Sutherland (opinion; joined by McReynolds and Butler) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Lanasa Fruit Steamship and Importing Company v. Universal Insurance Company | 302 U.S. 556 (1938) | Hughes | 7-2 | none | McReynolds and Sutherland (without opinions) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Biddle v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 302 U.S. 573 (1938) | Stone | 6-3 | none | McReynolds, Sutherland, and Butler (joint short statement) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed (one case); judgment reversed (one case) |
| Wright v. United States | 302 U.S. 583 (1938) | Hughes | 8-0[e] | Stone (opinion; with which Brandeis concurred) | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Claims (Ct. Cl.) | judgment affirmed |
| Minnesota Tea Company v. Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 302 U.S. 609 (1938) | Sutherland | 8-0[e] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (8th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Ocean Beach Heights, Inc. v. Brown-Crummer Investment Company | 302 U.S. 614 (1938) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | decree reversed, and cause remanded |
| Creek Nation v. United States | 302 U.S. 620 (1938) | Roberts | 8-0[e] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Claims (Ct. Cl.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| United States v. Stevens | 302 U.S. 623 (1938) | Black | 8-0[e] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1st Cir.) | decree reversed |
| United States v. Jackson | 302 U.S. 628 (1938) | Black | 8-0[e] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Ex parte Levitt | 302 U.S. 633 (1937) | per curiam | 8-0[b](presumably, Black recused himself) | none | none | original jurisdiction | motion for leave to file a petition for an order requiring Justice Black to show cause, denied |
    [a] Hughes took no part in the case
    [b] Black took no part in the case
    [c] Stone took no part in the case
    [d] Sutherland took no part in the case
    [e] Cardozo took no part in the case
    [f] Roberts took no part in the case
    [g] Brandeis took no part in the case