Today in Supreme Court History: February 9

United States v. Lane Motor Co., 344 U.S. 630 (decided February 9, 1953): truck used solely to commute to illegal distillery is not “property intended for use in violating alcohol tax laws” and hence can’t be seized and forfeited by the IRS

Musser v. Utah, 333 U.S. 95 (decided February 9, 1948): Utah statute prohibited conduct “injurious to public morals”.  Appeal from conviction for counseling people to enter into polygamous relationships (this is Utah).  The Court notes that the statute is vague but in context of other Utah statutes refers matter back to Utah Supreme Court.  Dissent by Rutledge notes First Amendment concerns.  The Utah Supreme Court agreed that it was vague under the Fourteenth Amendment and vacated the conviction, 118 Utah 537.  But! the defendant, Joseph White Musser, was an out-and-out polygamist who published a magazine called “Truth”.  Shown the magazine, Rulon Jeffs joined the cult.  At age 85 he coerced Rebecca Wall, age 19, to be his 19th wife.  She eventually broke free and publicized her plight.  She married Jeffs’s grandson Ben Musser, who one assumes was related somehow to the defendant in this case; their family tree was more like a suffocating tangle of mangroves.

CBS, Inc. v. Davis, 510 U.S. 1315 (decided February 9, 1994): Meat packing employee agreed to wear hidden camera.  CBS was about to broadcast an exposé.  Alleging trespass and breach of duty by employee, company (Federal Beef Processors) sued to stop broadcast.  The Court here dissolves injunction against broadcast, citing First Amendment and previous law on prior restraint.  (The exposé, a 2-minute segment of the show “48 Hours”, aired on April 21, 1994.  Not known if it included an interview with Nathan Thurm, Federal Beef’s attorney.)

Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding, 344 U.S. 590 (decided February 9, 1953): can’t deny without a hearing re-entry of permanent resident alien member of United States merchant sailing on United States registered vessel; resident aliens are entitled to due process (not mentioned why they wanted to exclude him; District Court opinion says only that it was due to “information of a confidential nature”, but years later documents obtained via FOIA show that he was active in Chinese politics and (impermissibly?) critical of our ally Taiwan, see https://papers.ssrn. com/sol3/papers.cfmabstract_id=462500; they also show that this litigation dragged on to 1967 when he was finally naturalized)

Lutwak v. United States, 344 U.S. 604 (decided February 9, 1953): conviction for conspiracy to misuse War Brides Act (defendants arranged veterans to get married in Paris just so that wives could enter the U.S.) upheld; last date of conspiracy was date last bride entered the U.S. and statement against co-conspirators improperly admitted was harmless error (“this record fairly shrieks the guilt of the parties . . . a defendant is entitled to a fair trial but not a perfect one”)