Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/414/156/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 06:22:54+00:00

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"a corporation or association, the majority stock in which is owned by registered pharmacists in good standing, actively and regularly employed in and responsible for the management, supervision, and operation of such pharmacy."
The court remanded the case so that petitioner Board could conduct an administrative hearing "sans the constitutional issue," on respondent's alleged failure to meet certain structural and safety standards on which petitioner had also rested its permit denial.
1. This Court does not lack jurisdiction to review the State Supreme Court's judgment, which is "final" within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1257, for it is not apparent how petitioner Board would be able to preserve the constitutional issue now ready for adjudication without defying the State Supreme Court. Pp. 414 U. S. 159-164.
2. The North Dakota statutory requirements for permitting the operation of a pharmacy do not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In enacting the challenged legislation, the State was well within its authority "to legislate against what [it] found to be injurious practices in [its] internal commercial and business affairs," Lincoln Union v. Northwestern Co., 335 U. S. 525, 335 U. S. 536, and this Court will not substitute its own judgment for what the State feels is reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the public. Liggett Co. v. Baldridge, supra, overruled. Pp. 414 U. S. 164-167.
202 N.W.2d 140, reversed and remanded.
DOUGLAS, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
"a corporation or association, the majority stock in which is owned by registered pharmacists in goof standing, actively and regularly employed in and responsible for the management, supervision, and operation of such pharmacy."
Petitioner Board denied a permit to Snyder's Drug Stores, Inc., because it did not comply with the stock ownership requirements of the statute, it appearing that all the common stock of Snyder's was owned by Red Owl Stores, and it not being shown if any Red Owl shareholders were pharmacists registered and in good standing in North Dakota. On appeal to the state district court, summary judgment was granted Snyder's. On appeal to the Supreme Court of North Dakota, that court held [Footnote 2] that the North Dakota statute was unconstitutional by reason of our decision in 1928 in Liggett Co. v. Baldridge, 278 U. S. 105. That case involved a Pennsylvania statute that required that 100% of the stock of the corporation be owned by pharmacists. The North Dakota statute, however, requires only that a majority of the stock be owned by pharmacists. But the North Dakota Supreme Court held that the difference did not take this case out from under the Liggett case, because, under both statutes, control of the corporation having a pharmacy license had to be in the hands of pharmacists responsible for the management and operation of the pharmacy. That court therefore remanded the case so that the Board could conduct "an administrative hearing on the application, sans the constitutional issue, pursuant to our Administrative Agencies Practice Act," 202 N.W.2d 140, 145 (italics added).
The case is here on a petition for certiorari which we granted, 411 U.S. 947.
The finality requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 1257, which limits our review of state court judgments, serves several ends: (1) it avoids piecemeal review of state court decisions; (2) it avoids giving advisory opinions in cases where there may be no real "case" or "controversy" in the sense of Art. III; (3) it limits review of state court determinations of federal constitutional issues to leave at a minimum federal intrusion in state affairs.
in State litigation only after 'the highest court of a State in which a decision in the suit could be had' has rendered a 'final judgment or decree.' § 237 of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S.C. § 344(a). This requirement is not one of those technicalities to be easily scorned. It is an important factor in the smooth working of our federal system."
"Of course, where the remaining litigation may raise other federal questions that may later come here . . . to allow review of an intermediate adjudication would offend the decisive objection to fragmentary reviews."
Id. at 326 U. S. 127.
Mills v. Alabama, 384 U. S. 214, involved the constitutionality of a state statute in effect making it a crime for a newspaper editor on election day to urge people to vote a certain way on the issues being submitted. The state court held the act did not violate the Federal Constitution, and remanded the case for trial. It was argued that the judgment was not "final" for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1257. We noted that the point had "a surface plausibility, since it is true the judgment of the State Supreme Court did not literally end the case." 384 U.S. at 384 U. S. 217. We held it "final," however, because, if the Act were constitutional, the editor would, in reality, have no defense. Since conviction seemed likely, we concluded that to deny review at that stage would "result in a completely unnecessary waste of time and energy in judicial systems already troubled by delays due to congested dockets." Id. at 384 U. S. 217-218.
of a state act setting minimum retail prices was consonant with federal law. The state court held the state act constitutional under both the State and the Federal Constitutions, and remanded the case for further proceedings. In reliance on Curry and Langdeau, [Footnote 4] we held that the fact that there were to be further proceedings in the state court did not render the state judgment "nonfinal or unappealable within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1258." Id. at 377 U. S. 389 n. 4.
to Mr. Chief Justice Taney's opinion in Forgay v. Conrad, 6 How. 201, where the Court held "final" an interlocutory decree requiring a litigant "to deliver up property which he claims," even though a final accounting has yet to be made. Id. at 47 U. S. 205. Unless that interlocutory order was deemed "final," Mr. Chief Justice Taney pointed out, the "right of appeal is of very little value to him, and he may be ruined before he is permitted to avail himself of the right." Ibid.
It is equally important that we treat the judgment in the instant case as "final," for we have discovered no way which the licensing authority in North Dakota has of preserving the constitutional question now ripe for decision.
The Board here denied respondent's application without an evidentiary hearing, since the application showed that, under the North Dakota Act, respondent could in no way qualify for a license. The State Supreme Court held that Act unconstitutional, and that, thus, an applicant failing to meet the requirements of the state statute is nevertheless entitled to consideration for a license. As previously noted, the State Supreme Court, indeed, directed the Board on remand to reconsider the application "sans" the constitutional question.
remanded for an administrative hearing on those other issues.
If we deny review at this point, respondent has no constitutional barrier to the grant of a license.
The state licensing authority might, of course, after an administrative hearing, reinstate its earlier findings that the respondent does not meet the necessary structural and safety standards. If respondent is denied a license for that reason, the denial will obviously be on a state ground. If respondent is granted a license, the battle over the constitutionality of the new Act will be lost as far as this case is concerned.
There is no suggestion that "the remaining litigation may raise other federal questions," Radio Station WOW v. Johnson, 326 U.S. at 326 U. S. 127, "such as is true of eminent domain cases." Ibid. For, in those cases, the federal constitutional question embraces not only a taking, but a taking on payment of just compensation. A state judgment is not final unless it covers both aspects of that integral problem. See Grays Harbor Co. v. Coats-Fordney Co., 243 U. S. 251, 243 U. S. 256.
It would appear that, as a matter of North Dakota procedure, the only way in which the Board could preserve the constitutional issue would be to defy its own State Supreme Court and deny the application on the ground of failure to meet the ownership requirement. The state Administrative Agencies Practice Act provides that "Any party to any proceeding heard by an administrative agency" may appeal from the decision of the agency. N.D.Cent.Code § 28-32-15. The statute appears to treat the agency as a tribunal, and not as a "party" able to appeal its own order.
dismissed and the dismissal would rest on the independent state ground that state procedural law does not provide the agency the right to appeal.
"mere stock ownership in a corporation, owning and operating a drug store, can have no real or substantial relation to the public health, and that the act in question creates an unreasonable and unnecessary restriction upon private business,"
rejected the due process philosophy enunciated in the Adair-Coppage line of cases. In doing so, it has consciously returned closer and closer to the earlier constitutional principle that states have power to legislate against what are found to be injurious practices in their internal commercial and business affairs, so long as their laws do not run afoul of some specific federal constitutional prohibition, or of some valid federal law. . . . Under this constitutional doctrine, the due process clause is no longer to be so broadly construed that the Congress and state legislatures are put in a strait jacket when they attempt to suppress business and industrial conditions which they regard as offensive to the public welfare."
335 U.S. at 335 U. S. 536-537.
"We conclude that the Kansas Legislature was free to decide for itself that legislation was needed to deal with the business of debt adjusting. Unquestionably, there are arguments showing that the business of debt adjusting has social utility, but such arguments are properly addressed to the legislature, not to us. We refuse to sit as a 'superlegislature to weigh the wisdom of legislation,' and we emphatically refuse to go back to the time when courts used the Due Process Clause"
"to strike down state laws, regulatory of business and industrial conditions because they may be unwise, improvident, or out of harmony with a particular school of thought."
takes for its textbook Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer, Lord Keynes, or some other is no concern of ours. The Kansas debt adjusting statute may be wise or unwise. But relief, if any be needed, lies not with us, but with the body constituted to pass laws for the State of Kansas."
Id. at 372 U. S. 731-732 (footnotes omitted).
investor who looked only to the standing of the stock in the market. The Constitution does not make it a condition of preventive legislation that it should work a perfect cure. It is enough if the questioned act has a manifest tendency to cure or at least to make the evil less."
Id. at 278 U. S. 114-115.
Those two opposed views of public policy are considerations for the legislative choice. The Liggett case was a creation at war with the earlier constitutional view of legislative power, Munn v. Illinois, 94 U. S. 113, 94 U. S. 132, 94 U. S. 134, and opposed to our more recent decisions. Olsen v. Nebraska, 313 U. S. 236, 313 U. S. 241; Williamson v. Lee Optical Co., 348 U. S. 483, 348 U. S. 487-488; Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. v. Missouri, 342 U. S. 421, as well as the Daniel, Lincoln Union, and Ferguson cases already discussed. The Liggett case, being a derelict in the stream of the law, is hereby overruled. We reverse and remand the judgment below and free the courts and agencies of North Dakota from what the State Supreme Court deemed to be the mandate of Liggett.
"Requirements for permit to operate pharmacy. -- The board shall issue a permit to operate a pharmacy, or a renewal permit, upon satisfactory proof that:"
"5. The applicant for such permit is qualified to conduct the pharmacy, and is a registered pharmacist in good standing or is a partnership, each active member of which is a registered pharmacist in good standing, or a corporation or association, the majority stock in which is owned by registered pharmacists in good standing, actively and regularly employed in and responsible for the management, supervision, and operation of such pharmacy. . . ."
"The provision of subsection 5 of this section shall not apply to the holder of a permit on July 1, 1963, if otherwise qualified to conduct the pharmacy, provided that any such permit holder who shall discontinue operations under such permit or fail to renew such permit upon expiration shall not thereafter be exempt from the provisions of such subsection as to such discontinued or lapsed permit. The provisions of subsection 5 of this section shall not apply to hospital pharmacies furnishing service only to patients in such hospital."
"Final judgments or decrees rendered by the highest court of a State in which a decision could be had, may be reviewed by the Supreme Court. . . ."
We held in Local No. 438 v. Curry, 371 U. S. 542, that a state court judgment which authorized a temporary injunction against picketing because, in the court's view, the National Labor Relations Board did not have exclusive jurisdiction was "final" for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1257. We did not wait until the litigation had been resolved in the state court, as the state court had finally determined its jurisdiction, and erroneously so. 371 U.S. at 371 U. S. 548.
"[W]e believe that it serves the policy underlying the requirement of finality in 28 U.S.C. § 1257 to determine now in which state court appellants may be tried, rather than to subject them, and appellee, to long and complex litigation which may all be for naught if consideration of the preliminary question of venue is postponed until the conclusion of the proceedings."
371 U.S. at 371 U. S. 558.
In California v. Stewart, 384 U. S. 436, 384 U. S. 498-499, in a capital case, the State Supreme Court set aside the verdict on a federal constitutional ground and directed that the defendant (respondent) be retried. He moved that we dismiss the State's petition, which we had granted, for lack of a "final" judgment. We noted, however, that if, on a retrial, he were acquitted, there was no appeal available to the State. We therefore held that the judgment under review was "final" for our purposes. Id. at 384 U. S. 498 n. 71.
In Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83, the state court had given a defendant post-conviction relief and remanded the case for retrial on the question of punishment. We took the case to determine whether the suppression of evidence by the prosecution entitled the defendant to a retrial on the issue of guilt as well as punishment. We held that the issue of guilt was quite independent of the issue of punishment and that it was time to decide the due process and/or equal protection questions presented by the state decision.

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