This is a list of cases reported in volume 208 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1908.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 208 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).[1] 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 208 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
Melville Weston Fuller Chief Justice 1908.jpg Melville Fuller Chief Justice Illinois Morrison Waite July 20, 1888
(41–20)
October 8, 1888

July 4, 1910
(Died)
JudgeJMHarlan.jpg John Marshall Harlan Associate Justice Kentucky David Davis November 29, 1877
(Acclamation)
December 10, 1877

October 14, 1911
(Died)
DavidBrewer.jpg David Josiah Brewer Associate Justice Kansas Stanley Matthews December 18, 1889
(53–11)
January 6, 1890

March 28, 1910
(Died)
Edward White, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly left, 1905.jpg Edward Douglass White Associate Justice Louisiana Samuel Blatchford February 19, 1894
(Acclamation)
March 12, 1894

December 18, 1910
(Continued as chief justice)
Rufus Wheeler Peckham cph.3b30513.jpg Rufus W. Peckham Associate Justice New York Howell Edmunds Jackson December 9, 1895
(Acclamation)
January 6, 1896

October 24, 1909
(Died)
Joseph McKenna Associate Justice California Stephen Johnson Field January 21, 1898
(Acclamation)
January 26, 1898

January 5, 1925
(Retired)
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr circa 1930-edit.jpg Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Associate Justice Massachusetts Horace Gray December 4, 1902
(Acclamation)
December 8, 1902

January 12, 1932
(Retired)
Justice William R. Day.jpg William R. Day Associate Justice Ohio George Shiras Jr. February 23, 1903
(Acclamation)
March 2, 1903

November 13, 1922
(Retired)
WHMoody.jpg William Henry Moody Associate Justice Massachusetts Henry Billings Brown December 12, 1906
(Acclamation)
December 17, 1906

November 20, 1910
(Retired)

Notable Cases in 208 U.S.

Adair v. United States

Adair v. United States, 208 U.S. 161 (1908), was a United States labor law case in which the Supreme Court declared that bans on "yellow-dog" contracts (that forbade workers from joining labor unions) were unconstitutional. The decision reaffirmed the doctrine of freedom of contract which was first recognized by the Court in Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897). For this reason, Adair is often seen as defining what has come to be known as the Lochner era, a period in American legal history in which the Supreme Court tended to invalidate legislation aimed at regulating business.[2][3]

Loewe v. Lawlor

Loewe v. Lawlor, 208 U.S. 274 (1908), also called the Danbury Hatters' Case, is a Supreme Court case in United States labor law concerning the application of antitrust laws to labor unions. The Court's decision effectively outlawed the secondary boycott as a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, despite union arguments that their actions affected only intrastate commerce.[4] It was also decided that individual unionists could be held personally liable for damages incurred by the activities of their union.

Muller v. Oregon

In Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908), the Supreme Court upheld the general police powers of a state to protect the welfare of women even when it infringed on her fundamental right to negotiate contracts. Inequality, the Court said, was not a deciding factor because the sexes were inherently different in their particular conditions and had completely different functions; labor laws that were made to nurture women's welfare and for the "benefit of all" people were held not to be a violation of the Constitution's Contract Clause.

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.

Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.

List of cases in volume 208 U.S.

Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition
Carrington v. United States 1 (1908) Holmes none none Phil. reversed
Chin Yow v. United States 8 (1908) Holmes none none N.D. Cal. reversed
New York ex rel. E. & J. Burke, Ltd. v. Wells 14 (1908) Day none none N.Y. Sup. Ct. affirmed
Yosemite G.M. & M. Co. v. Emerson 25 (1908) Day none none Cal. affirmed
United States v. Miller 32 (1908) Day none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Wabash R.R. Co. v. Adelbert Coll. 38 (1908) Moody none none Ohio reversed
Winslow v. Baltimore & O.R.R. Co. 59 (1908) Moody none none D.C. Cir. affirmed
Bluthenthal v. Jones 64 (1908) Moody none none Fla. affirmed
Prosser v. Finn 67 (1908) Harlan none none Wash. affirmed
Blacklock v. United States 75 (1908) Harlan none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
In re Metro. Ry. Receivership 90 (1908) Peckham none none 2d Cir. mandamus denied
I.M. Darnell & Son Co. v. City of Memphis 113 (1908) White none none Tenn. reversed
Southern P.L. Co. v. Ward 126 (1908) White none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. affirmed
Ex parte Simon 144 (1908) Holmes none none C.C.D. (unspecified) habeas corpus denied
Houghton v. Meyer 149 (1908) Day none none D.C. Cir. affirmed
Adair v. United States 161 (1908) Harlan none McKenna; Holmes E.D. Ky. reversed
Braxton Cnty. v. West Virginia ex rel. Tax Comm'rs 192 (1908) Brewer none none W. Va. dismissed
United States v. Graf D. Co. 198 (1908) Peckham none none 8th Cir. certification
Penn R. Co., Ltd. v. Western et al. R.R. Co. 208 (1908) Peckham none Moody 3d Cir. affirmed
Elder v. Wood 226 (1908) Moody none none Colo. affirmed
Missouri V.L. Co. v. Wiese 234 (1908) White none none Neb. affirmed
Missouri V.L. Co. v. Wrich 250 (1908) White none none Neb. affirmed
Minneapolis et al. R.R. Co. v. Doughty 251 (1908) McKenna none none N.D. affirmed
United D. Co. v. G. & C. Merriam Co. 260 (1908) Holmes none none 7th Cir. affirmed
Donnell v. Herring H.M.S. Co. 267 (1908) Holmes none none 7th Cir. reversed
Loewe v. Lawlor 274 (1908) Fuller none none 2d Cir. reversed
Lewis v. Herrera 309 (1908) Fuller none none Ariz. affirmed
Cleveland et al. R.R. Co. v. Cleveland S.S. Co. 316 (1908) Fuller none none N.D. Ohio affirmed
The Troy 321 (1908) Fuller none none W.D. Wis. affirmed
Armstrong v. Fernandez 324 (1908) Fuller none none D.P.R. affirmed
United States v. Larkin 333 (1908) Fuller none none N.D. Ohio dismissed
Dick v. United States 340 (1908) Harlan none none D. Idaho affirmed
Atlantic T. Co. v. Chapman 360 (1908) Harlan none none 9th Cir. reversed
Cosmopolitan Club v. Virginia 378 (1908) Harlan none none Va. affirmed
Bassing v. Cady 386 (1908) Harlan none none R.I. Super. Ct. affirmed
United States v. Bitty 393 (1908) Harlan none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. reversed
Henningsen v. United States F. & G. Co. 404 (1908) Brewer none none 9th Cir. affirmed
Muller v. Oregon 412 (1908) Brewer none none Or. affirmed
Bien v. Robinson 423 (1908) White none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. dismissed
Notley v. Brown 429 (1908) White none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Haw. dismissed
Calvo v. De Gutierrez 443 (1908) White none none Phil. affirmed
Great N.R.R. Co. v. United States 452 (1908) White none none 8th Cir. affirmed
Phillips v. Mobile 472 (1908) Peckham none none Ala. affirmed
Richard v. Mobile 480 (1908) Peckham none none C.C.S.D. Ala. affirmed
Ughbanks v. Armstrong 481 (1908) Peckham none none Mich. affirmed
Jetton v. University of the South 489 (1908) Peckham none none C.C.M.D. Tenn. reversed
Bennett v. Bennett 505 (1908) McKenna none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. affirmed
Crary v. Dye 515 (1908) McKenna none none Sup. Ct. Terr. N.M. affirmed
Starr v. Campbell 527 (1908) McKenna none none C.C.W.D. Wis. affirmed
Drumm F.C. Co. v. Edmisson 534 (1908) McKenna none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. affirmed
Rankin v. City Nat'l Bank 541 (1908) Holmes none none 8th Cir. affirmed
First Nat'l Bank v. Albright 548 (1908) Holmes none none Sup. Ct. Terr. N.M. affirmed
Herring H.M.S. Co. v. Hall's Safe Co. 554 (1908) Holmes none none 6th Cir. affirmed
United States v. Sisseton & Wahpeton Bands 561 (1908) Holmes none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Disconto GmbH v. Umbreit 570 (1908) Day none none Wis. Cir. Ct. affirmed
Northern P.R.R. Co. v. Minnesota ex rel. City of Duluth 583 (1908) Day none none Minn. affirmed
Hairston v. Danville & W.R.R. Co. 598 (1908) Moody none none Va. affirmed
Wabash R.R. Co. v. Adelbert Coll. 609 (1908) Moody none none Ohio rehearing denied

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Supreme Court Research Guide". Georgetown Law Library. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  2. ^ Philips, Michael J. The Lochner Court, Myth and Reality: Substantive Due Process from the 1890s to the 1930s. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. p. 10.
  3. ^ Wiecek, William M. The History of the Supreme Court of the United States. Volume 12, The Birth of the Modern Constitution: The United States Supreme Court, 1941–1953. Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 25 f.
  4. ^ Carter, Saalim A. Labor Unions and Antitrust Legislation: Judicial Activism vs. Judicial Restraint from 1890-1941. Penn State University, 2006. p. 28.

See also

External links