William Jameson Co Inc v. Morgenthau

• Decision Date: 15 May 1939
• Docket Number: No. 717,717
• Citation: 59 S.Ct. 804,83 L.Ed. 1189,307 U.S. 171
• Parties: WILLIAM JAMESON & CO., INC., v. MORGENTHAU, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

307 U.S. 171

59 S.Ct. 804

83 L.Ed. 1189

WILLIAM JAMESON & CO., INC.,

v MORGENTHAU, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, et al.

No. 717.

Argued May 1, 1939.

Decided May 15, 1939.

Mr. William D. Mitchell, of New York City, for appellant.

Messrs. Robert H. Jackson, Sol. Gen., and Phillip E. Buck, of Washington, D.C., for appellees.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, an importer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, having been denied the right to import its product into the United States under the label of 'blended Scotch whisky', upon the ground that it was improperly labeled, brought this suit against the Secretary of the Treasury and other officials to enjoin them from refusing to release the product from customs custody upon payment of the required customs duties. Appellant also asked for a declaratory judgment that the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, 49 Stat. 977, 1965, § 5(e), 27 U.S.C.A. § 205(e) is unconstitutional and void and that Regulations No. 5 promulgated thereunder, and particularly Sections 21(k), 34(f) and 46(a) of these Regulations, are unenforceable as against appellant and are without warrant of statutory authority.

In the view that the question of the Validity of an Act of Congress was involved and that the suit was within the purview of Section 3 of the Act of Congress of August 24, 1937, 50 Stat. 751, 28 U.S.C.A. § 380a, the case was heard below by a court of three judges, which denied an application for preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint. D.C., 25 F.Supp. 771. From its decree a direct appeal has been taken to this Court.

Section 3 of the Act of Congress of August 24, 1937, providing for a court of three judges and a direct appeal to this Court, is not applicable unless the questions raised as to the constitutional validity of an Act of Congress are substantial. California Water Service Company v. Redding, 304 U.S. 252, 254, 255, 58 S.Ct. 865, 866, 867, 82 L.Ed. 1323.

Here, the Federal Alcohol Administration Act was attacked upon the ground that the Twenty-first Amend- ment to the Federal Constitution, U.S.C.A., gives to the States complete and exclusive control over commerce in intoxicating liquors, unlimited by the commerce clause, and hence that Congress has no longer authority to control the importation of these commodities into the United States. We see no substance in this contention.

The other contentions of appellant assailed the Regulations and administrative action thereunder rather than the Act of Congress. So far as the Federal Alcohol Administration Act itself is concerned, no substantial question of constitutional validity was raised.

Section 3 of the Act of Congress of August 24, 1937, while providing for a procedure analogous to that under Section 266 of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S.C. § 380, 28 U.S.C.A. § 380, creates a distinction which we think is controlling. Section 266 of the Judicial Code provides for a court of three judges where an injunction is sought to restrain the enforcement 'of any statute of a State' or 'of an order made by an administrative board or commission acting under and pursuant to the statutes of such State', upon the ground of unconstitutionality. The provision in relation to administrative orders was added by an amendment to the original section. Act of March 4, 1913, 37 Stat. 1013. While that addition has been said to be unnecessary, as such orders were previously covered (Oklahoma Natural Gas Company v. Russell, 261 U.S. 290, 292, 43 S.Ct. 353, 67 L.Ed. 659, Congress adopted the amendment...