Brown v. American Stores, Inc.

The effect of the majority opinion is that while Section 205(e) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 permits an overcharged consumer to bring an action for $50, where the overcharge trebled does not exceed that sum, he is entitled to recover only such sum, not exceeding $50, as the trial court or jury thinks proper under all the circumstances of the case. I am unable to find anything in the Act which justifies this interpretation.

In Hall v. Chaltis the majority opinion discussed this question, but I did not think such discussion necessary to the decision of that case. There, the…