This is a list of cases reported in volume 250 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1919.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 250 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 250 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate(Vote) Tenure on Supreme Court Edward Douglass White Chief Justice Louisiana Melville Fuller (Acclamation) –May 19, 1921(Died) Joseph McKenna Associate Justice California Stephen Johnson Field (Acclamation) –January 5, 1925(Retired) Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Associate Justice Massachusetts Horace Gray (Acclamation) –January 12, 1932(Retired) William R. Day Associate Justice Ohio George Shiras Jr. (Acclamation) –November 13, 1922(Retired) Willis Van Devanter Associate Justice Wyoming Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) (Acclamation) –June 2, 1937(Retired) Mahlon Pitney Associate Justice New Jersey John Marshall Harlan (50–26) –December 31, 1922(Resigned) James Clark McReynolds Associate Justice Tennessee Horace Harmon Lurton (44–6) –January 31, 1941(Retired) Louis Brandeis Associate Justice Massachusetts Joseph Rucker Lamar (47–22) –February 13, 1939(Retired) John Hessin Clarke Associate Justice Ohio Charles Evans Hughes (Acclamation) –September 18, 1922(Retired)

Notable Case in 250 U.S. Abrams v. United States In Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919), the Supreme Court upheld the 1918 Amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917, which made it a criminal offense to urge the curtailment of production of the materials necessary to wage World War I with intent to hinder the progress of the war. The defendants were convicted on the basis of two leaflets they printed and threw from windows of a building in New York City. The defendants were charged and convicted of inciting resistance to the war effort and urging curtailment of production of essential war material. They were sentenced to 10 and 20 years in prison. The Supreme Court ruled that the defendants' freedom of speech, protected by the First Amendment, was not violated.

Citation style

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.

Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions. "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . . e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time. e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

List of cases in volume 250 U.S.

Case Name Page and year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition Portsmouth Harbor Land and Hotel Company v. United States 1 (1919) White none none Ct. Cl. affirmed American Fire Insurance Company v. King Lumber and Manufacturing Company 2 (1919) McKenna none none Fla. affirmed Caldwell v. United States 14 (1919) McKenna none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Tayabas Land Company v. Manila Railroad Company 22 (1919) McKenna none none Phil. affirmed Schlitz Brewing Company v. Houston Ice and Brewing Company 28 (1919) Holmes none none 5th Cir. affirmed Coleman v. United States 30 (1919) Holmes none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Sage v. United States 33 (1919) Holmes none none Ct. Cl. reversed Arkansas v. Mississippi 39 (1919) Day none none original continued Ball Engineering Company v. J.G. White and Company 46 (1919) Day none none 2d Cir. reversed Kenny v. Miles 58 (1919) VanDevanter none none Okla. reversed Parker v. Riley 66 (1919) VanDevanter none none 8th Cir. reversed Rust Land and Lumber Company v. Jackson 71 (1919) Pitney none none Miss. dismissed Fillippon v. Albion Vein Slate Company 76 (1919) Pitney none none 3d Cir. reversed New York Central Railroad Company v. Goldberg 85 (1919) Pitney none none N.Y. affirmed Brothers v. United States 88 (1919) Pitney none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Mackay Telegraph and Cable Company v. City of Little Rock 94 (1919) Pitney none none Ark. affirmed Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company v. Smith 101 (1919) Pitney none none Md. affirmed United States v. Reynolds 104 (1919) Pitney none none 8th Cir. reversed United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company v. Oklahoma 111 (1919) McReynolds none none Okla. dismissed Berkman v. United States 114 (1919) McReynolds none none S.D.N.Y. dismissed Carey v. South Dakota 118 (1919) Brandeis none none S.D. affirmed Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company v. United States 123 (1919) Clarke none none 3d Cir. affirmed Kinzell v. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company 130 (1919) Clarke none none Idaho reversed Northern Pacific Railroad Company v. North Dakota ex rel. Langer 135 (1919) White none none N.D. reversed Public Service Company of Northern Illinois v. Corboy 153 (1919) White none none D. Ind. reversed Dakota Central Telephone Company v. South Dakota ex rel. Payne 163 (1919) White none none S.D. reversed Kansas v. Burleson 188 (1919) White none none original dismissed Burleson v. Dempcy 191 (1919) White none none N.D. Ill. reversed Macleod v. New England Telephone and Telegraph Company 195 (1919) White none none Mass. affirmed United States v. Ferger I 199 (1919) White none none S.D. Ohio reversed United States v. Ferger II 207 (1919) White none none S.D. Ohio reversed Capital Trust Company v. Calhoun 208 (1919) McKenna none none Ky. reversed Dana v. Dana 220 (1919) Day none none Mass. dismissed Flanders v. Coleman 223 (1919) Day none none S.D. Ga. reversed Brainerd, Shaler and Hall Quarry Company v. Brice 229 (1919) Day none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed Parker v. Richard 235 (1919) VanDevanter none none 8th Cir. reversed Denver, and Rio Grande Railroad Company v. City and County of Denver 241 (1919) VanDevanter none none multiple affirmed The Lake Monroe 246 (1919) Pitney none none D. Mass. multiple Lincoln Gas and Electric Light Company v. City of Lincoln 256 (1919) Pitney none none D. Neb. affirmed The Scow 6-S 269 (1919) Pitney none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed Blair v. United States 273 (1919) Pitney none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed Rumely v. McCarthy 283 (1919) Pitney none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed Washington Post Company v. Chaloner 290 (1919) McReynolds none none D.C. Cir. reversed Williams v. Vreeland 295 (1919) McReynolds none none 3d Cir. affirmed United States v. Colgate and Company 300 (1919) McReynolds none none E.D. Va. affirmed Camp v. Gress 308 (1919) Brandeis none none 4th Cir. affirmed Benedict v. City of New York 321 (1919) Brandeis none none 2d Cir. affirmed United States v. Babcock 328 (1919) Brandeis none none Ct. Cl. reversed Northern Pacific Railroad Company v. Puget Sound and Willapa Harbor Railway Company 332 (1919) Clarke none none Wash. affirmed Minerals Separation, Ltd. v. Butte and Superior Mining Company 336 (1919) Clarke none none 9th Cir. multiple Vitelli and Son v. United States 355 (1919) White none none Ct. Cust. App. reversed Commercial Cable Company v. Burleson 360 (1919) White none none S.D.N.Y. reversed Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company v. Western Union Telegraph Company 363 (1919) Holmes none none multiple affirmed Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Minds 368 (1919) Holmes none none multiple affirmed DeGanay v. Lederer 376 (1919) Day none none 3d Cir. certification T.H. Symington Company v. National Malleable Castings Company 383 (1919) VanDevanter none none multiple multiple Northern Pacific Railroad Company v. McComas 387 (1919) VanDevanter none none Or. reversed City of Pawhuska v. Pawhuska Oil Company 394 (1919) VanDevanter none none Okla. dismissed Arizona Employers' Liability Cases 400 (1919) Pitney Holmes McKenna, McReynolds multiple affirmed Hancock v. City of Muskogee 454 (1919) Pitney none none Okla. affirmed American Manufacturing Company v. City of St. Louis 459 (1919) Pitney none none Mo. affirmed Erie Railroad Company v. Shuart 465 (1919) McReynolds none Clarke N.Y. Sup. Ct. reversed Barrett v. Virginian Railway Company 473 (1919) McReynolds none none 4th Cir. reversed Texas and Pacific Railway Company v. Leatherwood 478 (1919) Brandeis McReynolds none Tex. Civ. App. reversed Southern Pacific Company v. Bogert 483 (1919) Brandeis none McReynolds 2d Cir. decree modified Odell v. F.C. Farnsworth Company 501 (1919) Clarke none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed Bowerman v. Hamner504 (1919) Clarke none none 9th Cir. affirmed Central of Georgia Railway Company v. Wright 519 (1919) Holmes none none Ga. reversed Maxwell v. Bugbee 525 (1919) Day none Holmes N.J. affirmed Cartas v. United States 545 (1919) White none none Ct. Cl. affirmed United States ex rel. Alaska Smokeless Coal Company v. Lane 549 (1919) McKenna none none D.C. Cir. affirmed Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company v. United States 556 (1919) McKenna none none 3d Cir. certification Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Public Service Commission of Pennsylvania 566 (1919) Holmes none none Pa. Super. Ct. reversed Pell v. McCabe 573 (1919) Holmes none none 2d Cir. dismissed Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company v. Fink 577 (1919) Day none none Ohio Dist. Ct. App. reversed Stilson v. United States 583 (1919) Day none none E.D. Pa. affirmed Mullen v. Pickens 590 (1919) Pitney none none Okla. affirmed New York Central Railroad Company v. Bianc596 (1919) Pitney none none N.Y. affirmed Bank of Oxford v. Love 603 (1919) McReynolds none none Miss. affirmed Groesbeck v. Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway Company 607 (1919) Brandeis none none E.D. Mich. affirmed Abrams v. United States 616 (1919) Clarke none Holmes S.D.N.Y. affirmed

Notes and references

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