This is a list of cases reported in volume 252 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1920.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 252 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 252 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 252 U.S. Missouri v. Holland In Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416 (1920), the Supreme Court considered the extent to which international legal obligations are incorporated into federal law. The case centered on the constitutionality of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibited the killing, capturing, and selling of certain migratory birds pursuant to an earlier treaty between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The state of Missouri challenged enforcement of the Act within its jurisdiction, arguing that the regulation of game was not expressly delegated by the U.S. Constitution to the federal government, and was therefore reserved for the states under the Tenth Amendment. The Court upheld the Act as a valid exercise of the federal government's treaty power, with the supremacy clause of the Constitution elevating treaties above state law.

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 252 U.S. Case Name Page and year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition Jett Brothers Distilling Company v. Carrollton 1 (1920) Day none none Ky. dismissed Farncomb v. City and County of Denver 7 (1920) Day none none Colo. affirmed Goldsmith v. George G. Prendergast Construction Company 12 (1920) Day none none Mo. affirmed Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company v. Ward 18 (1920) Day none none Okla. affirmed Pennsylvania Gas Company v. Public Service Commission of New York 23 (1920) Day none none N.Y. Sup. Ct. affirmed Ex parte Tiffany 32 (1920) Day none none D.N.J. mandamus denied Shaffer v. Carter 37 (1920) Pitney none none E.D. Okla. multiple Travis v. Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company 60 (1920) Pitney none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed Chesbrough v. Northern Trust Company 83 (1920) McReynolds none none 6th Cir. affirmed United States v. A. Schrader's Son, Inc. 85 (1920) McReynolds none none N.D. Ohio reversed Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company v. Wisconsin ex rel. City of Milwaukee 100 (1920) Brandeis none none Wis. affirmed McCloskey v. Tobin 107 (1920) Brandeis none none Tex. Crim. App. affirmed Lee v. Central of Georgia Railroad Company 109 (1920) Brandeis none none Ga. Ct. App. affirmed Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company v. United States 112 (1920) Brandeis none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Chapman v. Wintroath 126 (1920) Clarke none none D.C. Cir. reversed National Lead Company v. United States 140 (1920) Clarke none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Kansas City Southern Railway Company v. United States 147 (1920) Clarke none none Ct. Cl. affirmed New York Central Railroad Company v. Mohney 152 (1920) Clarke none none Ohio Dist. Ct. App. affirmed Ash Sheep Company v. United States 159 (1920) Clarke none none 9th Cir. affirmed Gayon v. McCarthy 171 (1920) Clarke none none S.D.N.Y. affirmed United States ex rel. Kansas City Southern Railway Company v. Interstate Commerce Commission178 (1920) White none none D.C. Cir. reversed Eisner v. Macomber189 (1920) Pitney none Holmes; Brandeis S.D.N.Y. affirmed Pierce v. United States 239 (1920) Pitney none Brandeis N.D.N.Y. affirmed Minnesota v. Wisconsin 273 (1920) McReynolds none none original state boundary set Cole v. Ralph 286 (1920) VanDevanter none none 9th Cir. reversed Panama Railroad Company v. Toppin 308 (1920) Brandeis none none 5th Cir. affirmed The Atlanten 313 (1920) Holmes none none 2d Cir. affirmed Manners v. Morosco 317 (1920) Holmes none Clarke 2d Cir. reversed Oklahoma Operating Company v. Love 331 (1920) Brandeis none none W.D. Okla. reversed Oklahoma Gin Company v. Oklahoma 339 (1920) Brandeis none none Okla. reversed Hiawassee River Power Company v. Carolina-Tennessee Power Company 341 (1920) Brandeis none none N.C. dismissed Strathearn Steamship Company, Ltd. v. Dillon 348 (1920) Day none none 5th Cir. affirmed Thompson v. Lucas 358 (1920) Day none none 2d Cir. affirmed Collins v. Miller 364 (1920) Brandeis none none E.D. La. dismissed Caldwell v. Parker 376 (1920) White none none N.D. Ala. affirmed Cuyahoga River Power Company v. Northern Ohio Traction and Light Company 388 (1920) McKenna none none N.D. Ohio affirmed South Covington and Cincinnati Street Railway Company v. Kentucky 399 (1920) McKenna none Day Ky. affirmed Cincinnati, Covington and Erlanger Railway Company v. Kentucky 408 (1920) McKenna none Day Ky. affirmed Kenney v. Supreme Lodge of the World, Loyal Order of Moose 411 (1920) Holmes none none Ill. reversed Missouri v. Holland 416 (1920) Holmes none none W.D. Mo. affirmed Blumenstock Brothers Advertising Agency v. Curtis Publishing Company 436 (1920) Day none none N.D. Ill. affirmed Askren v. Continental Oil Company 444 (1920) Day none none D.N.M. affirmed Cameron v. United States 450 (1920) VanDevanter none none 9th Cir. affirmed United States v. Simpson 465 (1920) VanDevanter none Clarke D. Colo. reversed Houston v. Ormes 469 (1920) Pitney none none D.C. Cir. affirmed Hull v. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company 475 (1920) Pitney none Clarke Md. affirmed United States v. Chase National Bank 485 (1920) McReynolds none none 2d Cir. affirmed Boehmer v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company 496 (1920) McReynolds none none 2d Cir. affirmed Munday v. Wisconsin Trust Company 499 (1920) McReynolds none none Wis. affirmed First National Bank v. Williams 504 (1920) McReynolds none none M.D. Pa. reversed Burnap v. United States 512 (1920) Brandeis none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Oneida Navigation Corporation v. Job and Company, Inc. 521 (1920) Brandeis none none S.D.N.Y. dismissed Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Lederer 523 (1920) Brandeis none none 3d Cir. affirmed Estate of P.D. Beckwith, Inc. v. Commissioner of Patents 538 (1920) Clarke none none D.C. Cir. reversed Simpson v. United States 547 (1920) Clarke none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Canadian National Railway Company v. Eggen 553 (1920) Clarke none none 8th Cir. reversed

Notes and references

External links Case reports in volume 252 from Library of Congress Case reports in volume 252 from Court Listener Case reports in volume 252 from the Caselaw Access Project of Harvard Law School Case reports in volume 252 from Google Scholar Case reports in volume 252 from Justia Case reports in volume 252 from Open Jurist Website of the United States Supreme Court United States Courts website about the Supreme Court National Archives, Records of the Supreme Court of the United States American Bar Association, How Does the Supreme Court Work? The Supreme Court Historical Society