Shapiro v. United States (335 U.S. 1)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 21, 1948 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 335 U.S. 1 · 68 S. Ct. 1375
- Decided
- June 21, 1948
- Term
- October Term 1947
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner was tried on charges of having made tie-in sales in violation of regulations under the Emergency Price Control Act. A plea in bar, claiming immunity from prosecution based on § 202 (g) of the Act, was overruled by the trial judge; judgment of conviction followed and was affirmed on appeal. 159 F. 2d 890. A contrary conclusion was reached by the district judge in United States v. Hoffman, post, p. 77. Because this conflict involves an important question of statutory construction, these cases were brought here and heard together. Additional minor considerations involved in the Hoffman case are dealt with in a separate opinion. The petitioner, a wholesaler of fruit and produce, on September 29, 1944, was served with a subpoena duces tecum and ad testificandum, issued by the Price Administrator under authority of the Emergency Price Control Act. The subpoena directed petitioner to appear before designated enforcement attorneys of the Office of Price Administration and to produce “all duplicate sales invoices, sales books, ledgers, inventory records, contracts and records relating to the sale of all commodities from September 1, 1944 to September 28, 1944.” In compliance with the subpoena, petitioner appeared and, after being sworn, was requested to turn over the subpoenaed records. Petitioner’s counsel…
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