Brown v. United States
| Decision Date | 20 February 1928 |
| Docket Number | No. 33,33 |
| Parties | BROWN v. UNITED STATES. Re |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Mr. Robert N. Golding, of Chicago, Ill., for Brown.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 135-136 intentionally omitted] The Attorney General, for the United States.
This case came here from the Circuit Court of Appeals upon a certificate submitting questions upon which instruction was desired. After argument upon the certificate, it was ordered that the entire record be certified to this court, so that the whole matter in controversy might be considered.
The questions to be determined upon that record arise upon the following facts: The District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on July 13, 1925, issued its subpoena, addressed to the National Alliance of Furniture Manufacturers, commanding it to appear before the grand jury at a time and place named and produce:
'All letters or copies of letters, telegrams, or copies of telegrams, incoming and outgoing, passing between the National Alliance of Furniture Manufacturers and its predecessor, the National Alliance of Case Goods Associations, their officers and agents, and the several members of said National Alliance of Furniture Manufacturers and its predecessor, the National Alliance of Case Goods Associations (including corporations, partnerships, and individuals, and their respective officers and agents), during the period from January 1, 1922, to June 15, 1925, relating to the manufacture and sale of case goods, and particularly with reference to—
'(a) General meetings of Alliance;
'(b) Zone meetings of Alliance members;
'(c) Costs of manufacture;
'(d) Grading of various types of case goods;
'(e) Issuing new price lists;
'(f) Discounts allowed on price lists;
'(g) Exchanging price lists;
'(h) Maintaining prices;
'(i) Advancing prices;
'(j) Reducing prices;
'(k) Rumors of charges of price cutting;
'(l) Discounts, terms and conditions of sale, etc.;
'(m) Curtailment of production;
'(n) The pricing of certain articles or suits of furniture by W. H. Coye;
'(o) Cost bulletins;
'(p) Intention of W. H. Coye and A. C. Brown to attend furniture markets or expositions at Jamestown, N. Y., Grand Rapids, Mich., Chicago, Ill., and New York City, N. Y., and meetings of members held prior to and during said furniture markets or expositions '(q) Conditions obtaining at various furniture markets or expositions at Jamestown, N. Y., Grand Rapids, Mich., Chicago, Ill., and New York City, N. Y.;
'(r) Manufacturers maintaining a fair margin of profit between cost prices and selling prices.'
The subpoena contained no ad testificandum clause.
Service of this subpoena was made upon Arthur C. Brown, secretary of the Alliance, who appeared in person before the grand jury; refused to say anything concerning the matters set forth in the subpoena unless he should first be subpoenaed and sworn; produced and read to the grand jury a written statement in which, after reciting the service of the subpoena upon him, he said that there was no such person or entity as the National Alliance of Furniture Manufacturers capable of being served with subpoena or of appearing in answer to one, and that he appeared in deference to the official position of the grand jury to inform them of that fact. He declined to say whether his refusal to obey the subpoena ws because to do so would incriminate him in connection with his private and personal affairs. Counsel for the government informed him that the requirements of the subpoena were not with reference to his private or personal affairs but concerned him only as he was connected with the of the Alliance. The grand jury presented Brown to the District Court as a contumacious witness and requested that steps be taken to compel him forthwith to comply with the requirements of the subpoena.
To this presentment, Brown filed an answer, admitting service of the subpoena upon him, his appearance in person before the grand jury, and the making of the written statement above referred to. He further stated that the Alliance was a voluntary organization of furniture manufacturers, and not a corporation, either de jure or de facto; that the matter then under the investigation by the grand jury was the same matter as had been investigated by a previous grand jury, which had returned an indictment in which he, Brown, was named as a defendant; that prior to the issue of the subpoena in question, a subpoena duces tecum ahd been served upon him, directed to and commanding him to produce the same documents; that in answer thereto he appeared before the grand jury and brought with him the documents so requested, but declined to answer questions propounded unless sworn as a witness; that thereupon he was excused from further attendance upon the grand jury. He further answered that, 'said organization being a voluntary one and not a corporation,' to compel him in response to the subpoena set forth to produce documents in his possession would be to compel him to submit to an unlawful seizure and to produce evidence against himself, in violation of Amendments 4 and 5 of the federal Constitution; that said subpoena failed to show that the documents described were important or material; that it was a blanket command to produce all letters or copies of letters and telegrams sent to or received from a large number, to wit, 192 persons during a period of more than three years, and called for many documents obviously harmless and of no evidentiary value; and that said subpoena was not a bona fide attempt to obtain evidence, but constituted a fishing expedition, undertaken without knowledge whether or not he had in his possession evidence desired by the United States or the grand jury, but undertaken in the hope that evidence might be discovered which could be used against him on trial of the pending indictment or under a new one.
After a hearing, the court held that no sufficient excuse in law had been shown, and ordered Brown, then present in court, forthwith to appear before the grand jury and produce the evidence called for in the subpoena, whether the grand jury saw fit to administer an oath to him or not. Subsequently Brown again appeared before the grand jury and, being asked to produce the documentary evidence called for in the subpoena, refused to do so, except upon condition that he should be subpoenaed and sworn. He was again presented to the District Court as a contumacious witness, and as for a criminal contempt for the last-mentioned refusal to comply with the requirements of the subpoena. Upon this presentment, the court adjudged Brown guilty of contempt and sentenced him to imprisonment for 30 days.
The contentions on Brown's behalf are—
(1) The subpoena was a nullity because directed to an unincorporated association; (2) it was invalid because too broad and indefinite; (3) the order of the District Court compelled Brown to produce his own papers and thereby submit to an unlawful seizure and to incriminate himself in violation of his constitutional rights.
1. The general rule is that, in the absence of statute, an unincorporated association is not a legal entity which may be sued in the name of the association. Many of the states have adopted statutes expressly providing that such...
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