Railway Express Agency, Inc. et al. v. New York (336 U.S. 106)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 31, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 336 U.S. 106 · 69 S. Ct. 463
- Docket
- No. 51
- Argued
- December 6, 1948
- Decided
- January 31, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote a concurrence), Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed, Justice Black, Justice Rutledge (wrote a concurrence), Justice Murphy
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. Section 124 of the Traffic Regulations of the City of New York promulgated by the Police Commissioner provides: “No person shall operate, or cause to be operated, in or upon any street an advertising vehicle; provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the putting of business notices upon business delivery-vehicles, so long as such vehicles are engaged in the usual business or regular work of the owner and not used merely or mainly for advertising.” Appellant is engaged in a nation-wide express business. It operates about 1,900 trucks in New York City and sells the space on the exterior sides of these trucks for advertising. That advertising is for the most part unconnected with its own business.* It was convicted in the magistrate’s court and fined. The judgment of conviction was sustained in the Court of Special Sessions. 188 Misc. 342, 67 N. Y. S. 2d 732. The Court of Appeals affirmed without opinion by a divided vote. 297 N. Y. 703, 77 N. E. 2d 13. The case is here on appeal. Judicial Code § 237 (a), 28 U. S. C. § 344 (a), as amended, now 28 U. S. C. § 1257. The Court in Fifth Ave. Coach Co. v. New York, 221 U. S. 467, sustained the predecessor ordinance to the present regulation over the objection that it violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. It is true that that…
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