Staten Island Rapid Transit Ry. Co. v. Public Service Commission of New York
District Court, S.D. New York
The bills alleged: That each plaintiff was a common carrier engaged in interstate-commerce, operated a steam railroad in the city of New York, and was therefore within the terms of the statute.
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The bills alleged: That each plaintiff was a common carrier engaged in interstate-commerce, operated a steam railroad in the city of New York, and was therefore within the terms of the statute. That the changes directed by the statute would involve large expense, out of any reasonable relation to the benefit conferred on the community, because they would affect only industrial districts, already so overcharged with smoke from factories that the plaintiffs’ contributions were insignificant. That the time given for compliance with the act was too short to be practicable, and in some cases that…
1Opinion of the CourtHand, Circuit Judge
(after stating the facts as above). We do not find it necessary to consider many of the questions raised by the parties in these, cases. We shall assume for argument that, so far as concerns the Fourteenth Amendment, section 53-a is valid, not only because it does not take the plaintiffs’ property without due process of law, but also because the selection for regulation of railroads alone9 has a reasonable basis. Possibly it would have been necessary, if the cases turned upon the point, for the suits to go to trial before we could say that the burden imposed was balanced by a communal gain…
2Cases cited16 opinions
- Ex Parte YoungSupreme Court of the United States · 1908
- Truax v. RaichSupreme Court of the United States · 1915
- Terrace v. ThompsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1923
- New York Central Railroad Company v. WinfieldSupreme Court of the United States · 1916
- Greene v. Louisville & Interurban RailroadSupreme Court of the United States · 1917
11 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by1 opinion
- Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. CooneyDistrict Court, D. Montana · 1935