Sutphen Estates, Inc. v. United States et al. (342 U.S. 19)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 5, 1951 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 342 U.S. 19 · 72 S. Ct. 14
- Decided
- November 5, 1951
- Term
- October Term 1951
- Vote
- 5–1
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. Rule 24 (a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides in part as follows: “(a) Intervention of Right. Upon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action: . . . (2) when the representation of the applicant’s interest by existing parties is or may be inadequate and the applicant is or may be bound by a judgment in the action; or (3) when the applicant is so situated as to be adversely affected by a distribution or other disposition of property which is in the custody or subject to the control or disposition of the court or an officer thereof.” Appellant claims intervention of right in the Sherman Act proceedings involving the reorganization of certain producers and distributors of motion picture films whose activities had been found to violate the Act. See United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U. S. 131. If appellant may intervene as of right, the order' of the court denying intervention is appealable. See Railroad Trainmen v. B. & O. R. Co., 331 U. S. 519, 524: 32 Stat. 823, as amended, 15 U. S. C. (Supp. II) § 29. It was to resplve that question that we postponed the question of our jurisdiction of the appeal to the hearing on the merits. The present controversy stems from the reorganization of Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., pursuant to a decree of the court in the Sherman Act…
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