Smyth v. Ames

Smyth v. Ames
Submitted May 9, 1898
Decided May 31, 1898
Full case nameSmyth, Attorney General, et al. v. Ames, et al.; Smyth, Attorney General, et al. v. Smith, et al.; Smyth, Attorney General, et al. v. Higginson, et al.
Citations171 U.S. 361 (more)
18 S. Ct. 888; 43 L. Ed. 197; 1898 U.S. LEXIS 1608
Holding
Voided Nebraska railroad tariffs and defined the constitutional limits of governmental power to set railroad and utility rates.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Melville Fuller
Associate Justices
John M. Harlan · Horace Gray
David J. Brewer · Henry B. Brown
George Shiras Jr. · Edward D. White
Rufus W. Peckham · Joseph McKenna
Case opinion
MajorityHarlan
Laws applied
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Contract Clause
Overruled by
Federal Power Commission v. Hope Natural Gas Co., 320 U.S. 591 (1944)

Smyth v. Ames, 171 U.S. 361 (1898), also called The Maximum Freight Case, was an 1898 United States Supreme Court case.[1] The Supreme Court voided a Nebraska railroad tariff law, declaring that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in that it takes property without the due process of law.[2] The Court defined the constitutional limits of governmental power to set railroad and utility rates by stating that regulated industries have the right to a "fair return". The ruling was later overturned in Federal Power Commission v. Hope Natural Gas Company (1944).[3][4]

The decision in Smyth v. Ames was unanimous and Justice John M. Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court in writing.[5]

  1. ^ Smyth v. Ames, 171 U.S. 361 (1898).
  2. ^ Public Opinion: A Comprehensive Summary of the Press Throughout the World on All Important Current Topics. Public Opinion Co. (Princeton University). 1898. p. 330.
  3. ^ Federal Power Commission v. Hope Natural Gas Co., 320 U.S. 591 (1944).
  4. ^ Siegel, Stephen A. Smyth v. Ames. Answers.com. Accessed 18 February 2009
  5. ^ "Smyth v. Ames, 169 U.S. 466 (1898)". Justia Law. Retrieved August 20, 2024.