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 267 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
March 2, 1925 – July 2, 1941 (Continued as chief justice)
Notable Cases in 267 U.S.
Ex parte Grossman
In Ex parte Grossman, 267 U.S. 87 (1925), the Supreme Court held that the US President may pardon criminal contempt of court.[2] Grossman had been convicted of criminal contempt but was pardoned by the President. The U.S. district court then sent him back to prison, and he appealed to the Supreme Court.
Carroll v. United States
In Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132 (1925), the Supreme Court upheld the warrantless searches of an automobile, which is known as the automobile exception. The case has been cited as widening the scope of warrantless search. The Court noted that Congress early observed the need for a search warrant in non-border search situations, and Congress always recognized "a necessary difference" between searches of buildings and vehicles "for contraband goods, where it is not practical to secure a warrant, because the vehicle can be quickly moved out of the locality or jurisdiction in which the warrant must be sought."
Removal of liquor during Prohibition
Samuels v. McCurdy
Samuels v. McCurdy, 267 U.S. 188 (1925), is a decision regarding the application of ex post facto when an object was legally purchased and possessed, but was then later banned by statute. In 1917, Georgia's criminal alcohol prohibition law became effective before federal prohibition did under the Eighteenth Amendment. Sig Samuels had legally purchased alcohol for personal use before the ban. A sheriff seized the alcohol with a valid search warrant after prohibition became effective. Samuels sued for a return of his property for violating his due process; he also claimed the law was being applied in an unconstitutional ex post facto fashion because consumption per se was not forbidden by Georgia's law. The Supreme Court held that ex post facto does not apply, because possession is an ongoing condition.
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.
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