Court Opinion

ID: 9419745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:51:21.275764+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:20.382535
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Douglas,
dissenting.
I think Judge Givens, writing for the Supreme Court of Idaho (66 Idaho-, 156 P. 2d 319), has shown that it is at least doubtful if Congress meant to include the States as sellers under this Act.1 I think there is little to add to his analysis except to say that the doubt for me is increased when the whole scheme of regulation is considered. While § 302 (h) would relieve the States from the criminal sanctions of the Act,2 they would be subject to the treble damage provisions of § 205 (e), which are remedial, not punitive, in nature. Bowles v. American Stores, 139 F. 2d 377, 379. And the Administrator would have the power under § 205 (f) (1) to require a State to get a license from him in order to sell its commodities — a license which would be subject to suspension. §205 (f)(2). These are sub*106stantial intrusions on the sovereignty of the States, involving matters of great delicacy. And they raiie for me serious constitutional questions. Cf. New York v. United States, 326 U. S. 572, 590, dissenting opinion. Since the Act is at best ambiguous, I would choose the construction3 which avoided the constitutional issue. Only in the event that the language of the Act was explicit would I assume that Congress intended even in days of war to interfere with the traditional sovereignty of the States to the extent indicated.

 Sec. 302 (h) defines the term “person” as including “an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organized group of persons, or legal successor or representative of any of the foregoing, and includes the United States or any agency thereof, or any other government, or any of its political subdivisions, or any agency of any of the foregoing: Provided, That no punishment provided by this Act shall apply to the United States, or to any such government, political subdivision, or agency.”

 See note. 1, supra.

 A permissible construction is that the. phrase “the United States ... or any other government” means the United States or other comparable national sovereignties, i. e., foreign governments.