Paul v. United States

Summary

The Court, through Justice Douglas, held that federal military procurement statutes and regulations preclude California from enforcing minimum wholesale milk prices on purchases made with appropriated funds, including purchases for resale at military commissaries. The 1962 statutory amendments did not displace the federal policy requiring competition. For purchases with nonappropriated funds, California's price controls could remain applicable on federal enclaves if the same basic regulatory scheme existed when federal jurisdiction attached. The Court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded for findings concerning the history of the regulatory scheme and, if necessary, the locations of sales and the jurisdiction over those locations; it also required modification of the decree to reflect the Government's abandonment of its challenge to producer-price regulation. Justice Stewart, joined by Justices Harlan and Goldberg, dissented in part, arguing that Congress had not immunized federal procurement from generally applicable state price regulation, while agreeing that the enclave questions required remand.