Kinnane v. Detroit Creamery Co.

Background

A creamery company and other sellers sued the United States Attorney and the Federal Fair Price Committee to stop prosecutions for selling milk at prices labeled “unjust and unreasonable” under the reenacted fourth section of the Lever Act. The United States Attorney admitted the advisory committee had set what it called a fair price and said he would use that advice as the basis for prosecutions. A lower court issued an order stopping prosecutions and, after deciding the case on the written pleadings, permanently enjoined enforcement of the statute as applied.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the reenacted §4 of the Lever Act provided a clear standard for criminal liability. The court held the provision was unconstitutionally vague and lacked a definable standard of criminality. Relying on reasoning announced in the Cohen Grocery Co. decision, the Court concluded that the statute’s language did not give fair notice of forbidden conduct and therefore could not be enforced criminally.

Real world impact

The ruling bars prosecutions under that portion of the Lever Act and prevents using the advisory committee’s “fair price” recommendations as the sole basis for criminal charges. Businesses selling food items like milk and potatoes are directly affected because the Government cannot criminally punish sales for exceeding the committee’s figures under this statute. The decision affirms the lower courts’ orders in three related cases.

Dissents or concurrances

Two Justices (Pitney and Brandeis) explicitly concurred in the result. Justice Day did not take part in the decision.