Supreme Court of the United States, 1940

The Court affirmed the National Labor Relations Board’s order directing Serrick Corporation to bargain with the United Automobile Workers as the exclusive representative and to nullify the petitioner’s closed‑shop contract.

Justice Reed's opinion for the Court held that the Interstate Commerce Commission's authority under § 204(a)(1) and (2) of the Motor Carrier Act to regulate employee qualifications and maximum hours extends only to employees whose activities affect safety of operation.

Justice Roberts delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the Fourteenth Amendment protects religious liberty against state infringement and that Connecticut could not condition religious solicitation on an official determination that the cause was religious.

The Court, through Justice Douglas, held that the oil companies' coordinated purchases of surplus gasoline to raise and stabilize market prices constituted price fixing illegal per se under § 1 of the Sherman Act.

Justice Black's opinion held that the Raker Act required municipal sale and distribution of Hetch-Hetchy power directly to consumers and prohibited San Francisco's arrangement with Pacific Gas & Electric Company, regardless of its characterization as an agency or consignment.

The Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit, holding that the district court's order permitting the sheriff's sale was voidable—not void—and that the sale was not void; the termination of the bankruptcy case restored state court jurisdiction, and the bankruptcy court properly reinstated the case and could consider…

Justice Black, joined by Justices Douglas and Murphy, dissents, arguing that dismissing the farmer’s bankruptcy petition should not strip him of the benefits of the amended Frazier‑Lemke Act and that reinstatement is proper during the appeal period.

Justice Murphy's opinion held Alabama's prohibition on loitering and picketing facially unconstitutional because it broadly criminalized peaceful, truthful dissemination of information about labor disputes, speech protected against state interference by the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that the district court’s order permitting the sheriff’s sale was voidable, not void, and that the sale was not void. It further held that the termination of the bankruptcy case restored state court jurisdiction, so the foreclosure judgment could not be attacked…

Chief Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the Court, affirming an award to the copyright owners of one-fifth of the net profits from the infringing motion picture. The Copyright Act permits apportionment between profits attributable to infringement and profits attributable to the infringer’s independent…

The Court held that the deputy commissioner’s finding that Schumann was not a member of a vessel’s crew was supported by evidence and therefore could not be retried by the District Court.

The Supreme Court reversed the Florida Supreme Court's affirmance of capital convictions and death sentences resting on confessions extracted from four young Black men after dragnet warrantless arrests and a week of near-continuous, incommunicado jailhouse interrogation culminating in an all-night questioning session.

The Court held that payments equivalent to dividends and related taxes on borrowed stock were not deductible either as ordinary and necessary business expenses or as interest on indebtedness.