Callaway, Trustee, et al. v. Benton et al. (336 U.S. 132)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 7, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 336 U.S. 132 · 69 S. Ct. 435
- Docket
- No. 21
- Argued
- October 19, 1948
- Decided
- February 7, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson (wrote), Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed, Justice Black, Justice Murphy
- Dissenting
- Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Rutledge
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. The Central of Georgia Railway Company, whose Trustee is the petitioner here, and its predecessor have leased and operated the property of the South Western Railroad Company since 1869. The Central went into receivership in 1932, and in 1940 entered reorganization under § 77 of the Bankruptcy Act. 49 Stat. 911, 11 U. S. C. § 205. South Western’s lease was adopted successively by Central’s Receiver and Trustees. It has, in consequence, remained solvent, and no petition for reorganization has ever been filed in its behalf. Under the plan of reorganization of the Central approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission and by the district court, South Western is given the alternative of selling its property to the reorganized company in return for a fixed amount of bonds of the latter, or of having the lease disaffirmed by the debtor and its property returned. South Western appeared specially in the reorganization proceedings and asked that its lease be adopted by the reorganized company, but on the basis of studies and estimates not now open to challenge, the Commission rejected the proposal and found that the amount offered for its properties appears “fair and equitable and to equal the value of the transportation property, and [is] approved.” Following Commission and court approval of the plan, South Western’s…
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