Adkins v. Children’s Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 (decided April 9, 1923): striking down District of Columbia minimum wage law for women as interfering with freedom of contract (a right which, BTW, the Constitution does not protect against federal interference) (overruled by, among other cases, West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 1937)
NLRB v. Walton Mfg. Co., 369 U.S. 404 (decided April 9, 1962): Court of Appeals cannot apply stricter “substantial evidence” standard of review for NLRB reinstatement-and-back-pay decisions despite financial effect on employer; must apply same deferential standard as in cease-and-desist decisions
Schulz v. Pennsylvania R.R. Co., 350 U.S. 523 (decided April 9, 1956): trial judge should not have directed verdict for defendant in Jones Act case; jury could have connected negligence (forcing husband tug operator to work on icy, cold night) with injury (finding his body in water with flashlight in his hand, even though he might have fallen for some other reason than slipping on ice)
Shepherd v. Florida, 341 U.S. 50 (decided April 9, 1951): reversing conviction of four black men for raping 17-year-old white girl, citing Cassell v. Texas, which held that exclusion of blacks from grand jury violated Due Process; Jackson, with Frankfurter concurring in judgment, noted that jurors had read press accounts that falsely stated men had confessed, uncorrected by sheriff (reading their opinion, one sees that this was not the half of it); “these defendants were prejudged as guilty and the trial was but a legal gesture to register a verdict already dictated by the press and the public opinion which it generated”
Moser v. United States, 341 U.S. 41 (decided April 9, 1951): applying for exemption from military service during World War II (on the basis that he was a citizen of a neutral country, Switzerland) does not bar him from later applying for naturalization
Comm’r of Internal Revenue v. Smith, 324 U.S. 695 (decided April 9, 1945): for capital gains tax purposes stock of another corporation per stock option agreement with employer is valued at time stock is actually received and not when option exercised
Phipps v. Cleveland Refining Co., 261 U.S. 449 (decided April 9, 1923): fees for state inspection of petroleum products which provided revenue to the state far in excess of the cost to it of inspection burdened interstate commerce and violated Dormant Commerce Clause
Yale Lock Mfg. Co. v. James, 125 U.S. 447 (decided April 9, 1888): patent suit involving design of post office boxes; patentee loses because defendant’s design did not have key patent feature (boxes being connected such that breaking into one destroys the overall woodwork)
Sarlls v. United States, 152 U.S. 570 (decided April 9, 1894): beer is not “spiritous liquor or wine” under statute criminalizing bringing such into “Indian Country”
United States v. Alcea Band of Tillamooks, 341 U.S. 48 (decided April 9, 1951): taking of Indian lands is not “taking” under Fifth Amendment and therefore usual rule of no interest allowed on claims against United States applies
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