ALFRED L. SNAPP & SON, INC., et al. v. PUERTO RICO ex rel. BAREZ, SECRETARY OF LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES (458 U.S. 592)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided July 1, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 458 U.S. 592 · 102 S. Ct. 3260
- Decided
- July 1, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice White
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico seeks to bring suit in its capacity as parens patriae against petitioners for their alleged violations of federal law. Puerto Rico contends that those violations discriminated against Puerto Ricans and injured the Puerto Rican economy. The question presented here is whether Puerto Rico has standing to maintain this suit. I A The factual background of this case involves the interaction of two federal statutes, the Wagner-Peyser Act, 48 Stat. 113, 29 U. S. C. §49 et seq., and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 66 Stat. 163, as amended, 8 U. S. C. § 1101 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. IV). The Wagner-Peyser Act was passed in 1933 in order to deal with the massive problem of unemployment resulting from the Depression. The Act establishes the United States Employment Service within the Department of Labor “[i]n order to promote the establishment and maintenance of a national system of public employment offices.” 29 U. S. C. §49. State agencies, which have been approved by the Secretary of Labor, are authorized to participate in the nationwide employment service. §49g. The Secretary is authorized to make “such rules and regulations as may be necessary” to accomplish the ends of the Act. § 49k. Federal regulations issued pursuant to that authority have established an interstate…
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