Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/351/40/case.html
Timestamp: 2016-04-29 23:47:13
Document Index: 522196005

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 203', '§ 203', '§ 203', '§ 2325', '§ 1336', '§ 305', '§ 1009', '§ 203', '§ 222', '§ 204', '§ 222', '§ 212', '§ 1004', '§ 203', '§ 203', '§ 203']

Frozen Food Express v. United States :: 351 U.S. 40 (1956) :: Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center Log In
› Frozen Food Express v. United States
Frozen Food Express v. United States 351 U.S. 40 (1956)
U.S. Supreme CourtFrozen Food Express v. United States, 351 U.S. 40 (1956)Frozen Food Express v. United StatesNo. 158Argued March 7, 1956Decided April 23, 1956*351 U.S. 40APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
128 F. Supp. 374 reversed. Page 351 U. S. 41
The hearing to determine the meaning and application of the term "agricultural . . . commodities (not including manufactured products thereof)" as used in § 203(b)(6) was held before an examiner. It was a public hearing at which various governmental officials and agencies and Page 351 U. S. 42 various producers, shippers, and carriers appeared and presented evidence. The Commission's decision was in the form of a report and order. 52 M.C.C. 511. The report, which concerns various groups of commodities, covers 71 pages of the printed record. The findings list those commodities that the Commission finds are exempted under § 203(b)(6) and those that are not. The order of the Commission incorporates the "findings," and states that the proceeding "be, and it is hereby discontinued."
Frozen Food Express, the plaintiff, is a motor carrier transporting numerous commodities which the Commission ruled were nonexempt under § 203(b)(6) but which the carrier claims are "agricultural commodities." Plaintiff, who was not a party to the administrative proceeding, instituted suit before a three-judge District Court, 28 U.S.C. § 2325, to enjoin the order of the Commission and have it set aside, naming the United States and the Commission as defendants. 28 U.S.C. § 1336; 49 Stat. 550, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 305(g); 60 Stat. 243, 5 U.S.C. § 1009. The complaint alleged that plaintiff is a common carrier by motor vehicle, holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity which authorizes it to transport certain commodities between designated points and places; that plaintiff is transporting, in addition to those commodities, commodities which are exempt under § 203(b)(6) and for which plaintiff has sought no authority from the Commission; that the Commission, in its order, has held the latter commodities nonexempt, and accordingly has deprived it of the right granted by the statute; that the order of the Commission classifying certain commodities as nonexempt is unlawful; and that the Commission threatens to enjoin transportation of the commodities which plaintiff claims are exempt. The Secretary of Agriculture intervened, supporting plaintiff's position on some of the commodities. Other interveners Page 351 U. S. 43 are trucking associations and railroads which support the Commission. The United States, as a defendant, supports the Commission on some of its findings, and opposes it on others.
The situation here is quite different. The determination by the Commission that a commodity is not an Page 351 U. S. 44 exempt agricultural product has an immediate and practical impact on carriers who are transporting the commodities, and on shippers as well. The "order" of the Commission warns every carrier who does not have authority from the Commission to transport those commodities that it does so at the risk of incurring criminal penalties. § 222(a). Where unauthorized operations occur, the Commission may proceed administratively and issue a cease and desist order. § 204(c). Such orders of the Commission are enforceable by the courts. § 222(b). And willful violation of a cease and desist order is ground for revocation of a certificate or permit. § 212. The determination made by the Commission is not therefore abstract, theoretical, or academic. Cf. El Dorado Oil Works v. United States, 328 U. S. 12, 328 U. S. 18-19. The "order" of the Commission which classifies commodities as exempt or nonexempt is, indeed, the basis for carriers in ordering and arranging their affairs. Cf. Rochester Tel. Corp. v. United States, 307 U. S. 125, 307 U. S. 132. Carriers who are without the appropriate certificate or permit, because they believe they carry exempt commodities, run civil and criminal risks. A carrier authorized to carry specified commodities and dependent on exempt articles for its return load may lose its right to operate at all if it does not respect the Commission's "order." Carriers and shippers alike are told that they are or are not free to bargain for rates, that they must or must not pay the filed charges. The "order" of the Commission is, in substance, a "declaratory" one, see 60 Stat. 240, 5 U.S.C. § 1004(d), which touches vital interests of carriers and shippers alike and sets the standard for shaping the manner in which an important segment of the trucking business will be done. Cf. Columbia Broadcasting System v. United States, 316 U. S. 407. The consequences we have summarized are not conjectural. The Commission itself places this interpretation on its action and argues, contrary to its Page 351 U. S. 45 position in the Los Angeles case, supra, for finality of the order. We conclude that the issues raised in the complaint are justiciable, and that the District Court should adjudicate the merits.
After a self-initiated investigation, in which various carriers participated, the Commission entered this order discontinuing the proceedings and incorporating the "findings of fact and conclusions" of the Commission. That the order was not intended to be a "legislative" regulation seems apparent, since it was not put in the form ordinarily used by the Commission in promulgating regulations. The order simply lists the commodities considered by the Commission and determines whether they are within the § 203(b)(6) exemption; it nowhere commands that carriers hauling commodities considered non-exempt comply either with the order or with the general requirements of the Interstate Commerce Act. It is clear, therefore, that no administrative or criminal proceeding can be brought for violation of the order itself. And it is equally clear that the proceeding did not conclude any rights as between any specific carriers and the Commission. Page 351 U. S. 46
307 U.S. at 307 U. S. 144. The specific determination that a particular carrier must comply with Commission regulations is quite different from this order, which is directed to no one in particular and is binding on no one, not even the Commission. Neither can this order be analogized to a declaratory order directed to the status of a particular carrier, which might be reviewable as carrying with it a direct threat of prosecution -- see Rochester Tel. Corp. v. United States, supra, at 307 U. S. 132, note 11. Indeed, the Commission itself does not consider its determinations the final answer to the meaning of the § 203(b)(6) exemption, even for administrative Page 351 U. S. 47 purposes. This is evident from the proceedings in East Texas Motor Freight Lines v. Frozen Food Express, post, p. 351 U. S. 49, where, in a cease and desist proceeding, the Commission heard new evidence on whether the particular commodities there involved were within the exemption, and was evidently ready to reconsider the determinations embodied in the order involved here.
Years of experience have shown that § 203(b)(6) presents difficult problems of interpretation, and this Court should be wary of establishing a procedure which would prematurely throw into the courts questions of statutory construction not arising in the context of concrete facts, and which does not bring to the courts even the benefit of final interpretation by the agency assigned to administer the statute. That this should be done in a case where there is a right of direct appeal to this Court makes the wisdom of today's decision even more questionable. Page 351 U. S. 48