Atlantic City Elec. Co. v. United States

Background

Two appeals brought by electric companies — Atlantic City Electric Co. and Alabama Power Co. — were argued against the United States and other parties, including railroad companies. The appeals came from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the District of Columbia. The cases were considered together and were presented to the Supreme Court after lower-court judgments had been entered.

Reasoning

The Court’s action addressed the appeals from those lower-court rulings. The opinion in the Court’s published text is a brief per curiam statement: "The judgments are affirmed by an equally divided Court." The decision record also notes that one Justice, Mr. Justice Douglas, took no part in the consideration or decision of these cases. The opinion provides no extended majority explanation or written reasoning in this opinion text.

Real world impact

As explained in the opinion text, the immediate effect is that the judgments entered by the lower courts remain in place for these specific cases. Because the Justices were equally divided and a Justice did not participate, the Supreme Court’s action in these papers offers no fuller Court-wide explanation in this document about the legal issues involved. The outcome resolves these particular appeals but does not add a detailed Supreme Court rationale to guide other cases.