Supreme Court of the United States, 1938

The Court held that Missouri's provision of out‑of‑state tuition for Negro law students does not satisfy the Fourteenth Amendment's equal‑protection guarantee and reversed the Missouri Supreme Court, remanding for further proceedings.

Chief Justice Hughes's opinion sustained the Board's jurisdiction because interruption of the utilities' service would substantially affect interstate and foreign commerce, rejected the companies' procedural objections, and upheld the unfair-labor-practice findings under the substantial-evidence standard.

The Court held that a federal criminal defendant must have assistance of counsel unless the right is competently and intelligently waived. Waiver depends on the defendant’s circumstances, and the trial judge must determine whether a valid waiver exists.

The Court, through Justice Brandeis, rejected Swift v. Tyson and held that federal courts exercising diversity jurisdiction must apply state substantive law, including the law declared by the State’s highest court, rather than an independent federal general common law.

Justice Reed concurs with the majority’s disapproval of Swift v. Tyson, agreeing that the doctrine should be abandoned but arguing that it is merely erroneous, not unconstitutional, and that the term “laws” in the Judiciary Act includes state court decisions.

The Supreme Court held that the New Negro Alliance’s picketing over employment of Negro clerks constituted a labor dispute within the meaning of §13 of the Norris‑LaGuardia Act, so the district court lacked jurisdiction to issue an injunction; the injunction was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.

Justice Brandeis delivered the Court’s opinion holding that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to enjoin National Labor Relations Board hearings because Congress vested exclusive initial jurisdiction in the Board and provided adequate judicial review in the circuit courts of appeals.