Today in Supreme Court History: December 4, 1933

12/4/1933: Nebbia v. New York argued.

 

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

New Jersey v. City of New York, 290 U.S. 237 (decided December 4, 1933): imposes penalties against NYC for not complying with earlier order prohibiting dumping garbage into ocean next to New Jersey

Arkansas Game and Fish Comm'n v. United States, 568 U.S. 23 (decided December 4, 2012): flooding by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (water released from dam) which destroyed state's downstream timber crop is a "taking" even if only temporary

Logan v. United States, 552 U.S. 23 (decided December 4, 2007): exemption to sentence aggravation under Armed Career Criminal Act for those who have "had civil rights restored" did not apply to defendant who had otherwise applicable prior convictions but who had never had civil rights taken away

[Dr. Ed 2]

Was NJ v NYC based on it being in NJ territorial waters, ie inside 3 mile limit?

[Dan Schiavetta]

The decision on liability (283 U.S. 473) says New Jersey is invoking original jurisdiction under art. III, §2, but it’s not a dispute between states (NJ is suing NY City, not NY state) so one assumes it’s between “a State and Citizens of Another State”?

Consequently I don’t think territorial waters was an issue. It’s noted in one place that the garbage is dumped “from 2½ to 8 miles from the New Jersey shore” but that does not seem to be a jurisdictional fact.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Serves Nebbia right for being convicted - he was cheating dairy farmers out their profits by selling cheap milk to the poor.

[Dr. Ed 2]

So *that's* why I never understood this case.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

There's a little pseudo-economic history behind this price support. If you google for "inflation 1800-present", you can find charts like this showing incredibly consistent prices up until post WW I, with inflation during wars and deflation after. Prices in 1900 were remarkably similar to 1800, especially compared to prices in 2000.

The Fed was created in 1913, and after WW I, tried to prevent the normal post-war deflation, thinking that was the cause of the post-war recession. Luckily for everyone except the control freaks, Woodrow Wilson had his stroke and everyone around him pretended everything was normal, but they were all afraid to do anything more than prevent some deflation.

Fast forward ten years, and the prevent-deflation crowd was in full control and determined to prevent a repeat, so they did everything they could to prop up prices, part of what made the Great Depression so bad. Thus all the various industrial cartels they created to reduce supply and keep prices high, all the while wages were dropping. They actually thought keeping prices high would keep wages high and solve everything.