Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System et al. v. Agnew et al. (329 U.S. 441)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 6, 1947 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 329 U.S. 441 · 67 S. Ct. 411
- Docket
- No. 66
- Argued
- December 10, 1946
- Decided
- January 6, 1947
- Term
- October Term 1946
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Frankfurter (joined a concurrence), Justice Reed, Justice Black, Justice Rutledge (wrote a concurrence), Justice Murphy
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. This case, here on certiorari to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, presents important problems under § 30 and § 32 of the Banking Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 162, 193, 194, as amended, 49 Stat. 684, 709, 12 U. S. C. §§ 77, 78. Section 30 of the Act provides that the Comptroller of the Currency, whenever he is of the opinion that a director or officer of a national bank has violated any law relating to the bank, shall warn him to discontinue the violation and, if the violation continues, may certify the facts to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Board is granted power to order that the director or officer be removed from office if it finds after notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard that he has continued to violate the law. Section 32 of the Act prohibits, inter alia, any partner or employee of any partnership “primarily engaged in the issue, flotation, underwriting, public sale, or distribution, at wholesale or retail, or through syndicate participation, of stocks, bonds, or other similar securities” from serving at the same time as an officer, director, or employee of a member bank. Pursuant to the procedure outlined in § 30 the Board ordered respondents removed from office as directors of the Paterson National Bank on the ground that they were employees of a firm "primarily…
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