This is a list of cases reported in volume 242 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1916 and 1917.
| Supreme Court of the United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| 38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W | |
| Established | March 4, 1789 |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W |
| Composition method | Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation |
| Authorised by | Constitution of the United States, Art. III, § 1 |
| Judge term length | life tenure, subject to impeachment and removal |
| Number of positions | 9 (by statute) |
| Website | supremecourt |
Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 242 U.S.
editThe Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).[1] Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).
When the cases in volume 242 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) |
Tenure on Supreme Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Edward Douglass White | Chief Justice | Louisiana | Melville Fuller | December 12, 1910 (Acclamation) |
December 19, 1910 – May 19, 1921 (Died) |
|
Joseph McKenna | Associate Justice | California | Stephen Johnson Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) |
January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 (Retired) |
|
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) |
December 8, 1902 – January 12, 1932 (Retired) |
|
William R. Day | Associate Justice | Ohio | George Shiras Jr. | February 23, 1903 (Acclamation) |
March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 (Retired) |
|
Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) |
January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
|
Mahlon Pitney | Associate Justice | New Jersey | John Marshall Harlan | March 13, 1912 (50–26) |
March 18, 1912 – December 31, 1922 (Resigned) |
|
James Clark McReynolds | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Horace Harmon Lurton | August 29, 1914 (44–6) |
October 12, 1914 – January 31, 1941 (Retired) |
|
Louis Brandeis | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Joseph Rucker Lamar | June 1, 1916 (47–22) |
June 5, 1916 – February 13, 1939 (Retired) |
|
John Hessin Clarke | Associate Justice | Ohio | Charles Evans Hughes | July 24, 1916 (Acclamation) |
October 9, 1916 – September 18, 1922 (Retired) |
Notable Case in 242 U.S.
editCaminetti v. United States
editIn Caminetti v. United States, 242 U.S. 470 (1917), the Supreme Court interpreted the scope of the Mann Act. The Court decided the Mann Act applied not only to purposes of prostitution but also to other noncommercial consensual sexual liaisons, and that consensual extramarital sex falls within the definition of "immoral sex." The case was one of the first in which the Court embraced the “plain meaning rule”. This is a form of legislative interpretation that focuses strongly on the literal text of a statute. In its most extreme form, the plain meaning rule does not point outside the words of the statute at any other sources to find legislative intent, if the Court decides that the rule is "plain" from its text alone.
Citation style
editUnder the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.
The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari. On January 1, 1912, the effective date of the Judicial Code of 1911, the old Circuit Courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. District Courts.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
- "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals
- e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . .
- e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western
- e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
- "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
- The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time.
- e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
List of cases in volume 242 U.S.
editNotes and references
edit- ^ "Supreme Court Research Guide". Georgetown Law Library. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
External links
edit- [1] Case reports in volume 242 from Library of Congress
- [2] Case reports in volume 242 from Court Listener
- [3] Case reports in volume 242 from the Caselaw Access Project of Harvard Law School
- [4] Case reports in volume 242 from Google Scholar
- [5] Case reports in volume 242 from Justia
- [6] Case reports in volume 242 from Open Jurist
- Website of the United States Supreme Court
- United States Courts website about the Supreme Court
- National Archives, Records of the Supreme Court of the United States
- American Bar Association, How Does the Supreme Court Work?
- The Supreme Court Historical Society
