Court Opinion

ID: 9419288
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:48:27.822934+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:17.245946
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Murphy,
dissenting:
Because of the varied and important responsibilities of a quasi-judicial nature that have been entrusted to administrative agencies in the regulation of our political and economic life, their activities should not be subjected to unwarranted and ill-advised intrusions by the judicial branch of the government. Yet, if they are freed of all restraint upon inquisitorial activities and are allowed uncontrolled discretion in the exercise of the sovereign power of government to invade private affairs through the use of the subpoena, to the extent required or sought in situations like the one before us and other inquiries of much broader scope, under the direction of well-meaning but over-zealous officials they may at times become instruments of intolerable oppression and injustice. This is not to say that the power to enforce their subpoenas should never be entrusted to administrative agencies, but thus far Congress, for unstated reasons, has not seen fit to confer such authority upon any agency which it has *511created.1 So here, while the Secretary of Labor is empowered to administer the Walsh-Healey Act, to “prosecute any inquiry necessary to his functions,” and “to issue orders requiring the attendance and the testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence under oath,” he alone cannot compel obedience of those orders. “Jurisdiction” so to do is conferred upon the district courts of the United States and it is our immediate task to delineate the proper function of those courts in the exercise of this jurisdiction.2 Specifically the .question is: What is the duty of the courts when the witness or party claims the proceeding is without authority of law?
*512This Court, in recognition of the drastic nature of the subpoena power and the possibilities of severe mischief inherent in its use, has insisted that it be kept within well-defined channels. Cf. Boyd v. United States, 116 U. S. 616; Hale v. Henkel, 201 U. S. 43; Federal Trade Comm’n v. American Tobacco Co., 264 U. S. 298; Cudahy Packing Co. v. Holland, 315 U. S. 357, 363. In conditioning enforcement of the Secretary’s administrative subpoenas upon application therefor to a district court, Congress evidently intended to keep the instant subpoena power within limits, and clearly must have meant for the courts to perform more than a routine ministerial function in passing upon such applications. If this were not the case, it would have been much simpler to lodge the power of enforcement directly with the Secretary, or else to make disregard of his subpoenas a misdemeanor. So we have said that “appropriate defense may be made” to such an application for enforcement. Myers v. Bethlehem Corp., 303 U. S. 41, 49.
The Government concedes that the district courts are more than mere rubber stamps of the agencies in enforcing administrative subpoenas and lists as examples of appropriate defenses, claims that a privilege of the witness, like that against self-incrimination, would be violated;3 4or that the subpoena is unduly vague or unreasonably oppressive; 4 or that the hearing is not of the kind authorized;5 or that the subpoena was not issued by the person vested with the power;6 or that it is plain on the pleadings that the evidence sought is not germane to any lawful subject of inquiry. But the Government insists that the issue *513of “coverage,” i. e., whether the Act extends to plants of petitioner’s establishment which manufactured materials used in making complete shoes but not named in the contracts, is not a proper ground for attack in this case. I think it is.
If petitioner is not subject to the Act as to the plants in question, the Secretary has no right to start proceedings or to require the production of records with regard to those plants. In other words, there would be no lawful subject of inquiry, and under present statutes giving the courts jurisdiction to enforce administrative subpoenas, petitioner is entitled to a judicial determination of this issue before its privacy is invaded. Cf. Interstate Commerce Comm’n v. Brimson, 154 U. S. 447, 479; Harriman v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 211 U. S. 407; Ellis v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 237 U. S. 434; General Tobacco & Grocery Co. v. Fleming, 125 F. 2d 596.
Of course, the courts should not arrogate to themselves the functions of administrative agencies. It is trite but truthful to say that administrative agencies render valuable and very necessary services in the solution of the complex governmental and economic problems of our time. In the making of investigations, the determination of policy, the collection of evidence, and its current evaluation, preparatory or incidental to administrative action, experience and special training are valuable aids. But after all, as pointed out by Gellhorn, Federal Administrative Proceedings, pp. 27-29, the administrator is only an expert ex-officio.7 Just as the courts should not usurp *514the prerogatives of the agencies, neither should the word “administrative” and its companion “expertness” overawe them into abdicating responsibilities imposed upon them by Congress.
The legal propriety of instituting proceedings is a question which an agency is authorized if not obliged to determine, provisionally at least, before instituting the proceedings. But while the decision may be the agency’s in the first place, it is not a decision which it is ordinarily more competent to make than the courts and judges, who (at least in theory) should be more qualified than administrative officers, many of whom are laymen, to determine whether a statute extends to a certain set of facts. If the preliminary determinations by an agency of the scope of its power and jurisdiction are sacrosanct, why did Congress subject their final determination to judicial scrutiny, as it has done in the Walsh-Healey Act with regard, at least, to the enforcement of the wage and hour requirements on behalf of the employees? And if the courts are qualified to pass final judgment on the “quasi-judicial” findings and conclusions of the administrators, which they are ordinarily permitted to do to a greater or lesser extent,8 they are no less qualified to determine whether the evidence which moved the administrator to enter a formal complaint is sufficient in law to show probable cause that the statute under which the administrator is proceeding covers the case. Without such a showing of probable cause, the district courts ought not to be required as a matter of mere routine to lend their aid to the proceeding by compelling obedience to the subpoena.
*515It is to be understood, of course, that if the matter is in doubt and if there is a reasonable legal basis for the charge, the court should not substitute its judgment on the law or the facts for that of the agency. The court’s duty is to assist the agency in the performance of its functions and the discharge of its responsibilities, in the absence of a clear and convincing showing that it is proceeding without legal warrant. But it is hardly its duty to assist in the face of such a showing. So, when it becomes necessary for the Secretary in the course of a proceeding under the Walsh-Healey Act to appeal to the district court for the exercise of its jurisdiction over subpoena enforcement, it is within the competence and authority of the court to inquire and satisfy itself whether there is probable legal justification for the proceeding, before it exercises its judicial authority to require a witness or a party to reveal his private affairs or be held in contempt.
Considerations of practical advantage and elementary justice support this conclusion. Such a rule carries out what must have been the statutory intent, and would permit a timely and reasonable measure of judicial control over administrative use of the drastic subpoena power, subject to prompt review if the control were abused to the detriment of the agency. If administrative agencies may be temporarily handicapped in some instances by frivolous objections, the public will be protected in other instances against the needless burden and vexation of proceedings which may be instituted without legal justification. There is an obvious difference between the present case, wherein the district court exercises a jurisdiction expressly given to it by the statute, and those cases, such as Myers v. Bethlehem Corp., 303 U. S. 41, and Newport News Co. v. Schauffler, 303 U. S. 54, in which without express statutory authority a court is asked to enjoin an administrative proceeding as being contrary to law. Indeed, the very difference is noted in the Myers case, where it is said that *516“appropriate defense may be made” to an application for the enforcement of an administrative subpoena. 303 U. S. at 49.
Just how much of a showing of statutory coverage should be required to satisfy the district court, and just how far it should explore the question, are difficult problems, to be solved best by a careful balancing of interests and the exercise of a sound and informed discretion. If the proposed examination under the subpoena or the proceeding itself would be relatively brief and of a limited scope, any doubt should ordinarily be resolved in favor of the agency’s power. If it promises to be protracted and burdensome to the party, a more searching inquiry is indicated. A formal finding of coverage by the agency, which the Secretary did not make here, should be accorded some weight in the court’s deliberation, unless wholly wanting in either legal or factual support, but it should not be conclusive. In short, the responsibility resting upon the court in this situation is not unlike that of a committing magistrate on preliminary examination to determine whether an accused should be held for trial.
With these considerations in mind, let us turn to the facts of this case. Petitioner has willingly complied with all demands of the Secretary relating to the plants of its establishment, named in the contracts, in which the shoes were manufactured. It resists the application for enforcement of the subpoenas directing the production of records of other plants, not named in the contracts, in which some component parts for the shoes were manufactured, on the ground that the Walsh-Healey Act does not extend to those plants. It is true that petitioner voluntarily entered into the contracts with the Government, but those referred only to the specific plants where the finished product was made. And, it was not until 1939, after all the contracts were completed, that the Secretary issued rulings specifically deal*517ing with “integrated establishments.” 9 The mere fact that petitioner voluntarily contracted with reference to some plants does not necessarily mean that the Secretary is free to investigate petitioner’s entire business without let or hindrance. That depends upon whether or not the Act extends to those other plants. Petitioner was entitled to have this question determined by the district court before the subpoena was enforced over its objection.
In view of the opinion of the Court, there is no reason for discussing whether the district court correctly construed the scope of the Walsh-Healey Act, or whether it conducted its examination in accordance with the principles I have attempted to outline in the course of this opinion. It is enough to say that I am of opinion that under the facts of this case the district court should not be compelled mechanically to enforce the Secretary’s subpoena, in the exercise of its statutory jurisdiction. It should first satisfy itself that probable cause exists for the Secretary’s contention that the Act covers the plants in question.
Me. Justice Robeets joins in this dissent.

 The disregard of subpoenas issued by some agencies is punishable by fine and imprisonment in a criminal proceeding, but apparently no federal agency has ever been given the power to punish disobedience as a contempt of its authority. (See Final Report of the Attorney General’s Committee on Administrative Procedure, Appendix K.) The common method of enforcing subpoenas is to punish disregard of the subpoena as contempt of the issuing body. It has been held in some states that the power to punish for contempt cannot be conferred upon a body of a non-judicial character. See Langenberg v. Decker, 131 Ind. 471, 31 N. E. 190; In re Whitcomb, 120 Mass. 118, 21 Am. Rep. 502. Contra, In re Hayes, 200 N. C. 133, 156 S. E. 791. Compare statements in Interstate Commerce Comm’n v. Brimson, 154 U. S. 447, at 485 and 489.

 Section 5 of the Act provides in part: “In case of contumacy, failure, or refusal of any person to obey such an order, any District Court of the United States or of any Territory or possession, or the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on, or within the jurisdiction of which said person who is guilty of contumacy, failure, or refusal is found, or resides or transacts business, upon the application by the Secretary of Labor or representative designated by him, shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before him or representative designated by him, to produce evidence if, as, and when so ordered, and to give testimony relating to the matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof; . . .”
Criminal sanctions are not provided.

 Cf. Boyd v. United States, 116 U. S. 616.

 Cf. Hale v. Henkel, 201 U. S. 43; Federal Trade Comm’n v. American Tobacco Co., 264 U. S. 298.

 Cf. Harriman v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 211 U. S. 407; Ellis v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 237 U. S. 434.

 Cf. Cudahy Packing Co. v. Holland, 315 U. S. 357.

 “When reference is made to the 'expert administrative agency,’ it is surely not intended to mean that the necessary expertness is lodged in the head or heads of the agency or that they, in their own person, possess every expertise needed for the informed discharge of the manifold duties imposed upon the modern administrative organization. . /. We must look beyond the heads to find the talents which make the agency expert in its assigned tasks. This is a central *514reality. . . . The administrative agency as now organized is a vehicle for bringing the judgments of numerous specially qualified officials to bear upon a single problem.”

 The Walsh-Healey Act provides in § 5 that the Secretary’s findings of fact shall be conclusive in any court of the United States “if supported by the preponderance of the evidence.”

 Rulings and Interpretations under the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act, No. 2.