United States v. Reynolds et al. (345 U.S. 1)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 9, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 345 U.S. 1 · 73 S. Ct. 528
- Docket
- No. 21
- Argued
- October 21, 1952
- Decided
- March 9, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Privacy
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson (wrote), Justice Minton, Justice Clark, Justice Burton, Justice Douglas, Justice Reed
- Dissenting
- Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote), Justice Frankfurter (wrote), Justice Black (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. These suits under the Tort Claims Act arise from the death of three civilians in the crash of a B-29 aircraft at Way cross, Georgia, on October 6, 1948. Because an important question of the Government’s privilege to resist discovery is involved, we granted certiorari. 343 U. S. 918. The aircraft had taken flight for the purpose of testing secret electronic equipment, with four civilian observers aboard. While aloft, fire broke out in one of the bomber’s engines. Six of the nine crew members and three of the four civilian observers were killed in the crash. The widows of the three deceased civilian observers brought consolidated suits against the United States. In the pretrial stages the plaintiffs moved, under Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for production of the Air Force’s official accident investigation report and the statements of the three surviving crew members, taken in connection with the official investigation. The Government moved to quash the motion, claiming that these matters were privileged against disclosure pursuant to Air Force regulations promulgated under R. S. § 161. The District Judge sustained plaintiffs’ motion, holding that good cause for production had been shown. The claim of privilege under R. S. § 161 was rejected on the premise that the Tort Claims Act, in making the…
Excerpt of a 19,654-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.