Ewing, Federal Security Administrator, et al. v. Mytinger & Casselberry, Inc. (339 U.S. 594)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 29, 1950 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 339 U.S. 594 · 70 S. Ct. 870
- Decided
- May 29, 1950
- Term
- October Term 1949
- Vote
- 6–2
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an appeal from a three-judge District Court specially constituted on appellee’s application for an injunction to restrain enforcement of a portion of an Act of Congress for repugnance to the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Section 304 (a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 52 Stat. 1044, 21 U. S. C. § 334 (a), as amended, 62 Stat. 582, 21 U. S. C. (Supp. Ill) § 334 (a), permits multiple seizures of misbranded articles “when the Administrator has probable cause to believe from facts found, without hearing, by him or any officer or employee of the Agency that the misbranded article is dangerous to health, or that the labeling of the misbranded article is fraudulent, or would be in a material respect misleading to the injury or damage of the purchaser or consumer.” Appellee is the exclusive national distributor of Nutrilite Food Supplement, an encapsulated concentrate of alfalfa, water cress, parsley, and synthetic vitamins combined in a package with mineral tablets. There is no claim that the ingredients of the preparation are harmful or dangerous to health. The sole claim is that the labeling was, to use the statutory words, “misleading to the injury or damage of the purchaser or consumer” and that therefore the preparation was “misbranded” when introduced into interstate commerce. This was…
Excerpt of a 20,190-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.